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}

AN IN(iUIRY

INTO

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY

HISTORY OF ENGRAVING,

uposr

Conner aittn in Wlocm*

VOL. L

AN INQUIRY

INTO

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY

HISTORY OF ENGRAVING,

OPOV

Copper atttr in IKdoIi,

WITH

AN ACCOUNT OF ENGRAVERS AND THEIR WORKI,

rBOU TVB
IMVEMTION OF CHALCOORAPHY BT HASO FINIOVBRHA,

To THE TIME OF

MARC ANTONIO RAIMONDI.
BY WILLIAM YOUNG QTTLEY, F.S.A.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOK JOHN AND ABTHUR AECH, 61, COBNHILI.
BY J, H-CXEERY, BLACK-HORSE-COURT.

18l«.

ro«Q ART MUiCMr

WARWARD UNIVEMITV

/ /

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE

GEORGE JOHN EARL SPENCER, K. G.

&c. &c. &c.

THIS WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

WITH A DUE SENSE OF

THE ADVANTAGES DERIVED IN THE COURSE OF

ITS PROGRESS,

FROM THE USE OF MANY RARE AND VALUABLE MATERIALS

CONTAINED IN

HIS lordship's MAGNIFICENT LIBRARY,

BY THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

1 HE following work owes its origin to the circumstance of my
having, many years ago, when in Italy, chanced to meet with a
small print; which, as well from its style of design and delicate
finishing, as from the imperfect method in which the impression
appeared to have been taken off, I was led to conjecture might be a
genuine specimen of the abilities of Maso Finiguerra, the Inventor
of Chalcography.

It happened that the painting and sculpture of the early Italian
schools, and especially the school of Florence, had occupied much
of my previous attention ; and that I had already, more than once,
visited Florence, Pisa, Orvieto, Assisi, and Siena, for the express
purpose of collecting drawings, faithfully copied from the original
frescoes and bassi-relievi of the early artists, with a view to illus-
trate the history and progress of the Arts of Design, from the dawn
of their improvement in Italy, in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen«
turies, to the sera of their meridian splendour, under Julibs the
Second and Leo the Tenth. In the course of this pursuit, conti*
nued for several years with great eagerness, I naturally became
somewhat conversant with the various changes of style which

Tiii PREFACE.

took place in the painting and sculpture of the Italian schools, at
different periods of the before mentioned interval; and many of
those minute details^ which, although they escape the notice of
the more general observer, often furnish, nevertheless, the best
criterion for judging of the age or school to vrhich a work of art
appertains, were to me familiar. In short I became so far a
connoisseur in the very early pictures commonly known under the
generic and opprobrious term, Gothic, that I sometimes found my-
self in a situation to pronounce as to the probable authenticity
of a picture attributed to Cimabue, Giotto, Giovanni da Fiesole,
or Luca Signorelli, with the same confidence that others feel in
deciding as to the originality of a work of Raffaele, Titian^ or Do-
menichino.

I have indulged myself in this apparent digression from the im-
mediate subject of the present work, because it was the information
which I had acquired during the pursuit therein mentioned, that
first occasioned me to suspect that the engraving above spoken of
might be by the hand of Maso Finiguerra ; and finally led me to
the intimate conviction that such was really the case. This con-
viction was naturally followed by a desire of impressing others with
the same belief: a genuine print by Finiguerra was a desideratum
in the history of the art, and, indeed, was considered necessary
by many writers, in order to render the evidence of Vasari worthy
of credit, and thereby to establish the claims of Italy to the honour
of the invention in question. With this view, therefore, I entered
into a minute examination, of the different passages in which any
mention is made of Finiguerra, or of his. supposed discovery, by
Vasari and other old writers ; and I had already prepared a disser-

PREFACE. ix

tation of some length, in which I endeavoured to enforce the pre-
tensions of the small engraving ahove mentioned ; when^ upon the
appearance of a work by Zani, under the title of * Materiali/ &c.
my vanity was flattered, on the one hand, by the perfect assurance
that 1 had judged rightly in ascribing my print to Finiguerra, and
mortified, on the other, by learning that a similar discovery had been
previously made, or at least previously published, by that indefati-
gable inquirer.

I was not surprised to find, upon a perusal of Zani's book, that
although we had both referred in maiiy places to the same written
authorities, and even cited the same passages, we differed in some
of our conclusions ; that some things, which to me appeared of
consequence, had escaped his observation ; and that his work fur«
nished many others which had escaped my own. In short I was
induced to continue my labours ; especially as it was represented to
me by my firiends, that a work upon the origin and early history of
engraving was much wanting in the English language, and as I
even flattered myself with being able to add something new to the
stock of information already published upon the subject by the
writers of the continent.

Amongst those who strongly advised me to the completion of
my design, I cannot omit to mention my neighbour and friend
the Rev. T. F. Dibdin, to whom it is in a great degree owing that
my book does not still remain unfinished. It is true, that had
I fiiFther delayed its publication, the work might perhaps by
degrees have been rendered less imperfect than it will now be
found : but there is always a danger in procrastination ; and the
greater probability is, that but for the encouraging assurances

X PREFACE.

which I received from him, it would never have been published
at alL

About three years ago, I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted
with Mr. S. W, Singer, who was at that time employed in a work
upon the origin and history of Play ing-Cards ; and it was principally
at the suggestion of that gentleman that I undertook to preface my
Inquiry concerning the Invention of Chalcography, by some remarks
upon the early use of Engraving in Wood. In the course of this part
of iny work, which I originally hoped to comprize within the limits
of one chapter, I have more than once had occasion to express my
obligations to Mr. Singer, for several pieces of valuable information;
as well as for his liberality in the loan of curious books, and espe-
cially of his copy of the 'SpeaUumHumancBSalvatianis,* which through
his kindness I had the opportunity of examining for some months.

It happened that that part of the present Inquiry which treats of
early Wood-Engraving, was finished before Mr. Singer's work was
far advanced ; and at his request, a copy of the book, so far printed,
was sent to him for his inspection. I have thought it necessary to
notice this circumstance, in order to account for the mention of
this work in several passages of Mr. Singer's book, which, having
been finally completed before my own, has now been many weeks
in the hands of the public* Mr. Singer, I find, differs with me in
opinion upon several points ; but I think, upon the whole, we are
less frequently at variance as to facts than consequences. There
are two or three passages of his work, only, to which I think it
necessary to offer a few words in reply.

Mr. Singer, I find, (p. 87), approves the opinion offered by me
at page 54 of this work, that the silence of Marco Polo in his Tra*

PREFACE. xi

Tels, as to the use of Wood-Engraving amongst the Chinese, (who,
there appears to he no douht, practised it before his time), makes in
favour, rslther than otherwise, of the supposition that that art was
well known, at the time he wrote, in his own country. Mr. Singer
admits also (p. 95) that the account given by Papillon of certain
wood-engravings said to have been executed at Ravenna, about the
year 1284, by two persons of the name of Cunio, bears every ap-
pearance of truth ; and agrees with me, that the decree of the
government of Venice of 1441, respecting wood-engraving, is good
evidence that that art had been in common use, as well in Italy as
elsewhere, long previously to that date : and yet he cannot allow the
probability of the truth of my opinion, stated at pages 45 and 69, that
the outlines of the three packs of cards which were furnished for the
use of Charles the Vlth, king of France, in 1392, at the low price of
fifty sous for the whole, must have been first printed, and afterwards
gilt and coloured by the hand. '' It is possible/' Mr. Singer ob-
serves, (p. 105), " that the cards of Gringonneur were very rude
'' performances, seeing that a mad king could have but little discri-
" mination in works of art /' he adds, that "the expression ^doret
i diverses couleurs' seems to imply, that Gringonneur's cards were
painted, and not printed /' and that '^ it should be observed too,
^ that he is called Peintre.'* He concludes with remarking, that,
" had there been any solid ground for Mr. Ottlejfs conjecture, the
^ French tmters would Juwe seized upon it mth avidity.'*

To the last of Mr. Singer's reasons for condemning my hypo-
thesis, I have only to say, that if it be really a good one, we ought
both of us to have confined ourselves to a simple statement of the
few facts we have been able to collect, mthout venturing to ofer any

€4

xii PREFACE.

novel opinion or conjecture, founded upon them. A very good reason-
may however be given why none of the French writers upon the
subject of cards have anticipated me in the opinion above men*
tioned : they were not thoroughly persuaded that the art of wood-
engraving was practised in Europe even so early as the commence-
ment of the fifteenth century ; much less did they think it probable,
like Mr. Singer and myself, that it was in use in Italy, and perhaps
in France and Germany, more than a century before.

Mr. Singer's other reasons for differing with me in opinion with re-
spect to Gringonneur's cards, do not to me appear forcible ; and I
cannot but express my surprise that he should not have observed, that
the description given by Lanzi of certain playing-cards preserved in
the Durazzo collection, and supposed to have been fabricated at
Venice about the year 1400, (see p. 49), exactly corresponds with
the account given of those of Gringonneur. Both were ^d or ct d
diverses cauleurs:' the outlines of the Venetian cards being first
printed, the ground behind the figures was afterwards gilt, and the
figures themselves were coloured by hand; and I think there is
every reason to believe that the cards furnished by Gringonneur
were manufactured in the same manner. That Gringonneur should
have been honoured with the title of Peintre, can furnish no reason-
able objection to my opinion that he was only an illuminist or
colourer of printed cards, (and perhaps other wood-cuts) ; since the
ancient card-makers of Germany were known by the corresponding
appellation of Brief maler. Besides, if, as Mr. Singer agrees with
me in believing, the s^rt of wood-engraving was commonly known
as early as the thirteenth century, and (p. 107) was used in the
manufacture of devotional figures, before cards were commonly

PREFACE. xiii

known, what hypothesis can be more reasonable, than that that art
was had recourse to in the fabrication of cards, immediately upon
their coming into general use? To what purpose could it be more
readily applied ? Where, it may be asked, was this art of wood-
engraving, during the interval of an hundred and thirty-nine
years, which took place from the time when it was practised by the
two Cunio, to that in which the wood-cut of St. Christopher, dated
1423, was executed ?*

The next part of Mr. Singer's work upon which I think it neces-
sary to remark, is a passage which occurs at p. 128. Mr. Singer
there observes, that I am the first writer who has endeavoured
to shew, that the style of art which pervades the wood-cuts
of the Biblia Pauperum, the Speculum Humarue Sahatumis, and the
Histcria ex Cantico Canticorum, is that of the Low Countries, and
not of Germany ; after which, he proceeds to say, that " it would
be presumption in him to enter the lists with a judge so compe-
tent," as he is pleased to consider me, " to decide upon the coun-
try to which the style of art which pervades these rude perform-
" ances belongs, if such. puerile efforts can be said to. have any
" distinguishing character of this kind," &c. I am sorry that my

* Mr. Singer's objections to my opinion '' but there can be no doubt that they were

that Gringonneur's cards were printed, are '' among the first objects it produced, and

the laore extraordinary ; since, in other parts '^ we have every reason to conclude, that they

of his work, he eicpresses his belief that '^ were printed from engraved blocks of

wood-engraving was used in the manufiicture '^ wood, at least as early as the commence^

of cards loi% before* Indeed, at p. 230, I '' ment of the fourteenth century, if they

find the following passage : '' At what time '' were not derived together with this art

the application of xylography to the pur- '' from the eastern world at aa earlier period;

i€

'' pose of multiplying cards took place, it is '^ a supposition which b not entirely devoid
*' not now possible to ascertain with certainty; " of probability."

»▼ PREFACE.

friend should have thought it necessary in this place to preface his
condemnation of my opinion, as to the style and merit of the cuts
alluded to> with a compliment As^ however, he has omitted to
give his reasons for differing with me so decidedly upon these points,
it will be sufficient for me to refer the reader to the third Chapter of
this work ; in many parts of which I have endeavoured to shew,
that the wood-engravings in the three block-books above men-
tioned, although in the dry manner of the time, are far from
deserving the appellation of rude petfarmances, or puerUe efforts of
the art.

It is not my intention to discuss all the various passages of Mr.
8ing€r*s book in which his o{Hnion happens to be at variance with
my own: he himself observes, (p. 128), that in treating of the
origin of typography, he has taken a different view of the subject.
I cannot, however, help remarking, that in his argument concerning
the last-mentioned important question, he displays more frequently
the zeal of an advocate than the deliberation of an impartial in-
quirer. Hius, s^ p. 1 10, Mr. Singer opens his escamination of the
claims of Haiiem to the invention of typography, by stating, that
that city, in order the more effectually to establish those claims,
" deemed it expedient to accuse the Germans of theflt, in having stolen
** the art from thence \' after which he says : '* let us examine with
^* care, and with an unprejudiced mind, the testimonies in her behalf
^' that we may decide impartially,'' &c. What would be thought
of the judge who should deliver an opinion as to the guilt of a
prisoner, before the jury had heard the evidence for or against him f
At pp. 116 and 145, and following pages, Mr. Singer intimates
his suspicions that the magistracy of Harlem improperly lent their

PREFACE. XV

influence in support of a story which they must have known

to be &lse; and at p. 144, sifter speaking of a book of rude

wood-cuts, in the collection of the Marquis of Blandford, which

contains several leaves of MS. with the spurious date, as he himself

considers it, of 1344, he thus expresses himself: " Had the advo^

" cates for Haerlem stumbled upon any thing half so conclusive as

the date of the manuscript in this case, they would have urged

it as a strong and irrefragable argument in favour of their cause/*

Itf the third Chapter of the present work, the reader will find that

I have taken some pains to explain the grounds of my conviction

that the cuts of the Biblia Pauperum, the Speculum, and the Book of

Canticles, were not only executed in the Low Countries, but also

that they were in part engraved by the same artist. Mr. Singer

answers all this by shortly observing, (p. 128), "that it will be

allowed, that the evidence founded upon this parity of style is

equivocal;" and in another place, (p. 131), he says : "Mr. Ottley

argues from the similarity of style in the design, and the knack of

*' the execution: surely," he continues, "these are not infallible

" guides; and more certain demonstration seems necessary in a

^^ decision of so much importance." I am by no means satisfied

with this brief mode of getting rid of an argument which happens to

oppose itself to the writer's hypothesis. On the contrary, I think

that it may fairly be maintained, that parity of style, in two or more

works of art, generally furnishes a very satisfactory ground for the

belief that such productions were executed in the same school, and

at nearly the same period ; and that if, in addition to this general

similarity of style, we observe in them the same peculiar knack in

the execution of the parts, which I have noticed in some of the cuts

€t

XVI

PREFACE.

of each of the three Block-Books above mentioned, (a peculiarity

which may be compared to that by which the hand-writing of one

individual is distinguished from that of another) we have then the

strongest possible evidence that such performances were the work

of the same hand.*

I should greatly exceed the ordinary limits of a Preface, were

I to attempt to answer all the parts of Mr. Singer's argument,
concerning the invention of typography, which are opposed to my
x>wn : but it is necessary I should observe, that he has greatly mis-
taken my intention, when, at p. 130, he states, that all that I have
attempted to shew is, the prohahility that the Speculum was printed

before the year 1472. An attempt to demonstrate this does indeed
*make one branch of my argument; but it is only a branch of it, — and
I have written to little purpose if the evidence and the arguments
which I have adduced in the course of my inquiry appear to lead
to no farther conclusion. It is true that I have not felt myself

* Lest, however, the resemblance which
I have noticed in the stjle of execution, in
some of the cuts of the three block-books
above mentioned, should on all sides be ad-
mitted to be so perfect, as fully to justify the
conclusion that the same wood-engraver was
employed upon each of those works, Mr.
Singer^ prepares a mode of avoiding the in-
ference which would, otherwise, necessarily
follow the establishment of such a fact. He
suggests, in his note at p. 131, that ''the
'' existence of a specie of signature in the
'' Bibtia Pauperunif' (Mr. Singer means the
initial letters by which the cuts are distin-
guished) '' might be urged iu proof of its
'' being executed posterior to 1470." This
argumeBt, were it well founded, would make

equally against the antiquity of most of the
other block-books. The pages of text in the
An Memorandi, which Mr. Dibdin thinks the
most ancient of all, (and Mr. Singer seems to
join in the opinion) are distinguished in the
same manner, and so are the pages of the
block-book of the Jpocalypse, and those of
all the editions of the Biblia Pauperum, It
is something to urge against Mr. Singer's
argument, (which is at variance with the
opinions of every writer upon the subject
of typographical inquiry that I know of)
that one of the latter editions of the
Biblia P-auperuniy in which the text is
translated into the German language, happens
to bear the date of 1470. See Heinecken,
<' Id4e Generate," p, 325.

PREFACE. xvii

adequate to pronounce a decided judgment upon the question which
I have discussed ; but this my want of confidence in a matter of so
much importance, can furnish no additional strength to the oppo-
site party ; and I must conclude these remarks upon Mr. Singer's
work by observing, that to some of the most important parts of
the evidence, and the argument which I have brought forward in
favour of the side I have taken, he does not appear to me to have
offered any satisfactory answer** But to return to the object of
the present undertaking.

The title-page of this work will, I believe, be found to convey a
sufficiently correct idea of its contents. The first five chapters
consist principally of inquiry concerning the authenticity of do^
cuments, relating to the antiquity of the art of wood-engraving
and the invention of chalcography, and of argument founded upon
the results of such inquiry. The extreme paucity of contempora-
neous written documents respecting the origin or early use of en-
graving, and the dubious light in which some of these have been
viewed by most of our modern writers* seemed to render this mode
of treating the subject peculiarly necessary ; and I have sometimes,
whilst pursuing my investigations, felt disposed to consider myself as
a sort of literary pioneer, whose business it was tp remove obstruc-
tions, and clear the way for] those who are to follow. How fer I

* Especially the fact, ^hich I think I have appears to me to make stron^y in &vour of
sufficiently proved, that the edition of the the traditions recorded by Junius and Guic-
Speculwn, printed partly from engraved ciardini, and I have argued accordingly. Mr.
blocks^ and partly with moveable type^ which Singer (note, p. 129) does '< not see the ad-
has heretofore been commonly considered '' vantage which is derived to Harlem fron%
the^rs^ edition of that work^ was in reality " this discovery .**
the third* This extraordinary circumstance

xviii PREFACE.

have performed this task, it is not for me to judge ; but I hope the
writer, who at some future period may undertake to compose a
more regular history of the origin and early progress of engraving,
may find that, by discussing points of controversy so much at length
as I have done, I have in some measure fitcilitated his labours.
Even in the sixth and following chapters, wherein I have given
the best account I am able of the early engravers on copper, and
catalogues of their works, I have not unfirequently found myself
called upon to examine doubtful evidence, or to controvert com-
monly received doctrines.

It were vain to suppose, that the opinions which I have hazarded
upon these various occasions, should all prove to be well founded.
He who quits the beaten path, in hopes of discovery, may chance
to be repaid for his toil : but he will often find himself entangled in
difficulties which he did not foresee; and sometimes opposed by
obstacles which he is unable to surmount. A work like the present
must necessarily contain many errors, and for such I claim the in*^
dulgence of the reader.

I have only to add, that in the progress of my inquiries I have
seldom, if ever, taken any thing from another writer without
acknowledging it ; and that it has always been my wish to preserve
a due respect towards those who have written before me, when per-
chance I happened to differ from them in opinion. If, in the
warmth of argument, I should occasionally appear to have deviated
from this rule, I am sorry for it ; and I particularly wish to assure
Mr. Bartsch, to whose extensive and valuable work I owe much of
the information which is contained in my own, that I am very far
fi*om entertaining the most distant idea that the keepers of the

PREFACE. xix

Imperial cabinet of prints at Vienna have not, at all times, been as
faithful guardians of the early specimens of Italian engraving
entrusted to their care, as of thos6 of Germany.*

In the course of this work I have had occasion to express my
acknowledgments to several gentlemen, and especially to Francis
Douce, and Thomas lioyd, Esqrs. for their kindness in the loan
of curious and valuable materials, as well as for many interesting
communications, which their experience enabled them to furnish :
but I have still to return my best thanks to William Alexander,
Esq. for the obliging attention which I have at all times expe-
rienced from him, during my researches in the extensive collec-
tion of ancient engravings at the British Museum ; a collection, of
which his gentlemanly politeness, and liis acquirements as an artist,
render him, in every respect, so worthy a superintendent and
guardian.

* I have thought it necessary to make the me id the hest of dispiilatioD at p. S4S, mjf;ht
above declaration, in consequence of a friend otherwise admit of being construed into a.
having suggested, that an expression used by serious accusation.

Kensington, June Ith^ 1816.

DIRECTIONS

POR PLACING THOSE CUTS WHICH ARE NOT INSERTED IN THE LETTJ^R-PRESf.

1. St. Bridget, from a very early print in the possession of Earl Spencer,

To fiice vol. i. ^ page 86
, 2. St. Christopher, the earliest known print, with a date (14S3), discovered at

Buxheim, near Memmingen : now in the possession of Earl Spencer ... 90
J 3. Composition from the Book of Canticles 147

4. Madonna, from a print in niello by Maso Finiguerra, in the possession of the

Author 4 304

5. Coronation of the Virgin, from a print by M. Finiguerra, in the National

Cabinet at Paris 308

. 6. Imperator, YIIII. a fiic-simile of a print forming part of a set of supposed

Tarocchi Cards 385

' 7. Speranza, XXXYIIII. a &c-8imile of another Card of the same set .... . 393

8. Fac-simile of a Vignette to the 13th Canto of Dante, printed at Florence 1481, 420

0. Copy of part of Pollajuolo's celebrated print of a Battle of naked Figures , . 446

10. A young Man bearing a yoke on his shoulders, from Andrea Mantegna,

To face vol. ii. page 494

1 1 . Fac-simile of part of the celebrated print of the Sea Monsters, by A. Mantegna 508

12. Madonna, from Martin Sc^hongauer, ^.A^tt S * ^^

13. Copy of a drawing in the British Museum, containing an inscription respect-

ing the time of the death of Israel van Mecken , $60

14. St. Anthony seated without the city walls, from Albert Durer 7S3

15. Holy Family, from Albert Durer * 726

Four Prints from the Original Wood-BloCks engraved by Albert Durer,

in the possession of P. £. Boissier, Esq« ,

16. The Last Supper

17. Christ brought before Pilate f ^o^

18. Christ taken down from the Cross

19. The Ascension

SO. St. John the Baptist, copy of part of a print by Julio Campagnola 768

21. Woman seated on a Chair, &c. from Marc' Antonio Raimondi 806

SS. Poesy, from Marc' Antonio Raimondi Sfft

TABLE OF THE CONTENTS

VOLUME THE FIRST,

Jr JIE7A0E • page vu.

CHAPTER I.

The Process employed in Wood £Dg;raving. The Antiquitj of this art in China.
Earliest account of Wood Engraving in Europe. PapiUon's stoiy of the two Cunio.
Examined. And judged authentic page 1

CHAPTER II.

The Decree of the Oovemment of Venice^ 1441. Specimen of old Venetian Wood
Engraring deseribed. Supposition that the Venetians obtained this Art from the
Chinese, at a rery early period. And that other Enropean Nations discovered the
Secret in the course of their Trafiick with Venice. The Art, perhaps, improved in
Gemmnj. Silence of old writers with respect to Wood Engravhigy accounted for.
No evidence that it was invented in Europe. Opinion of those who ascribe its Origin
to the Invention of Playing Cards, unsupported by Evidence. Remarks on the early
Use of Playing Cards. Early Wood Engravings of Germany, and the Low Countries.
Specimens described. St. Bridget. A Print preserved at Lyons, dated 1384. Doubt-
fid. St. Christopher, 1423, the earliest Print with a Date, of which there is no
doubt. Its Companion, the Annunciation. Reasons for suspecting these two Prints
to be Italian. Other andent Wood Engravings, with Bates, &c. . . • page 46

CHAPTER III.

Early Block-Books of Germany and the Low Countries. Probability that some of
them are as early as 1420. The Artists who executed them unknown. And even the
Schools to which most of them appertain. Sketch of the Amelioration and Advance-
ment of the Arts in the Low Countries. Few of the Block-Books have any thing to
recommend them, except their Antiquity. The best of them are probably the Pro-

XXll

ductions of Flanders, or of Holland. Three of them described. The Biblia Paupe*
rum; the Historiay seu Procidentia Virginis MtariaSy ex CanHco Canticorum; and
the Speculum Humance Sahatioms. Brief Recapitulation of the foregoing Documents.
Introduction of Wood-cuts into some of the first Books printed in Italy • page 99

CHAPTER IV-

Of the Invention of Chalcography.

Engraving on Metals with the Burin, practised by the Ancients. Works of iVife//b —
much practised in Italy during the Fifteenth Century. ' The Process used in making
such Works described. Maso Finigubrra, a Florentine Goldsmith, eminent in
that way. His Practice of taking Impressions of his Engravings in Sulphur : also on
damped Paper. The former Method considered. One of these Sulphurs described.
FosorTs Account o( Fimguerrd^s Practice of taking Impressions on Paper considered.
His Discovery of that Method supposed to have taken place not later than 1440.
The Researches of Mariette and Gaburriy in hopes to find Prints bearing his Name
or Cypher. Idipressions fi^om Works of Niello of Anonymous Italian Goldsmiths
discovered. An Impression, conjectured to be fi-om one of Finiguerra*s Engravings,
described. The Conjecture confirmed by ^Tonfs Discovery of an undoubted Impres-
sion finom one of Finiguerra's Works of NiellOy at Paris. Zani's Account of his Dis-
covery. His Description of another Print at Paris, by the same Artist. The proba-
bility that Finiguerra lived to perfect, in some degree, his Invention ; and that he
engraved some Plates for the purpose of Publication. A third Engraving, supposed
to be by Finiguerra, of which Zani met with two Impressions .... page 259

CHAPTER V.

Impressions firom Works of Niello of the ancient Italian Goldsmiths, in the Durazzo
Collection, described. Specimens of the same kind in the possession of the Author.
Remarks on the gradual progress of the Art of taking Impressions firom engraved
Plates in Italy. Bartsch's opinions concerning the establishment of Chalcography,
examined page 380

CHAPTER VI.

The Works of Ancient Engravers of the Florentine School, described. Baccio Baldini.
Sandro Botticelli. Antonio del PoUajuolo. Ancient Prints of this School by un-
known Artists. Other early Florentine Engravers. Gherardo. Robetta. page 349

CHAPTER I.

The Process employed in Wood Engraving — The Antiquity of this Art in
China— Earliest account of Wood Engraving in Europe — Papillon's
story of the two Cumo — examned — and judged authentic.

1 HE art of engraving the designs of figures, and other objects,
on blocks of wood, and of multiplying such representations, by means
of impressions taken from> them on paper, appears to have been prac-
tised in different parts of Europe, long before it was discovered
that engraved plates of metal could also be applied to similar pur-
poses. Some account, therefore, of the ancient practice of Wood
Engraving, will properly precede our inquiry concerning the Inven-
tion of Chalcography,

PROCESS OF WOOD ENGRAVINa

[chap. 1.

But first I will speak briefly of the process by which works of
this kind are executed : for I have had occasion to observe, that
books, relating to particular arts or sciences, are often in a great
degree unintelligible to all those who are not previously informed
on the subjects they treat of, merely because the authors of them,
taking it for granted that the rudiments of those studies were
familiar to all who were likely to peruse their books, omitted,
at the beginning, to explain a few first principles ; without a know*
ledge of which it was impossible for any one to understand their dis-
course ; although, in some cases, afew words would have been sufficient
for this end. The following short account of the method employed
in wood engraving will, in a great measure, obviate similar objec-
tions in the present instance ; and will, at least, inform the reader,
who has not hitherto considered the subject, concerning those im-
portant distinctions between the two arts of Wood Engraving
and Copper-Plate Engraving, ♦ without a clear idea of which it
would be difficult for him to comprehend our subsequent argument
Of course this is not intended for the instruction of the artist.

The process is as follows. The artist, having decided upon
the subject and dimensions of his intended work, most usually
prepares a correct design on thin paper. This drawing is either
a simple outline of the proposed subject, or finished with hatchings
to an effect similar to that which the print is intended to produce.
A block of wood, of a close grain^f and of a flat and even surface.

* It 18 totally incon£eiviU)le bow the au-
thors of the great French Encyclopedia should
have cominitted so great an error^ as to say,
^* La Thborib de la gravure en.boia est la

in&Biie que celle de la gravure d Feaujbrte

Ss au burin, 8cc." — Who. would not be lad to

suppose from such a remark, that the strokes
intended to print black in wood engraving
were cut into the wooden block, in the same
manner as in engravings on copper? Dic^

tionnaire de$ ArU de Peinture, Sculpture,
Sec. — 1792. 8f70. torn. it. p. 478.

f Box-wood, from its hardness, and the
closeness of its grain, is now preferred, espe«
ciaHy for delicate work. It is, however, diffi-
ddt to procure it of dimensions sufficient for
large engravings. Sometimes several pieces
of box are mortised together, so as to form
one large block. The old German wood en-
gravers generally used peartree ; at least we

CHAP, i.j PROCESS OF WOOD ENGRAVING. 3

corresponding to the size of the drawing, is then procured Hie
drawing, meanwhile, has been rendered transparent by rubbing it
over on the back with oil, turpentine> or varnish. Another piece of
fine paper is now rubbed all over, on cme side, with ted or black
chalk, or charcoal ; or, if the wood be of a dark tint, with white
lead, or whiting. This paper is laid, with its smeared side down-
wards» upon the prepared block; and the drawing, also with itit
face downwards> is laid upon it The artist then passes over all the
lines of the drawing with a blunt steel point, or with a hard pencil^
by which means» upon removing the drawing and the smeared
paper from the block, he finds all the lines of his dVawing faintly
traced upon the wood in a reversed direction. ♦ He next strengthens
the different outlines and hatchings of his design with a pen and
ink, or with a hard pencil, giving to each stroke its proper thick*
tiess, and, to the whole, an effect in every respect resembling that
which the print is designed to have when finished. Skilful de^-
signers oft^i make their drawing at once on the wooden block, with^
out having recourse to this double process.

The design on the wooden block being thus completed with a pen
or pencil, nothing now remains but to engrave, and afterwards to
print it.

In engraving on copper, every line or touch which is intended
to be dark in the impression^ is cut into the copper> Which is thus
hollowed in all those parts intended to receive the printing ink. In
wood engraving, the reverse is the case ; the surface of the block
being left in its original state in all those parts which are intended

are inforaiecl that all the blocks of the cele- way of his own. I understand, that if the

brated triumph of Maximilian, engraved from block is rubbed over with wax, and the draw-

the designs of Hans Burghmair^ shortly be- ing, with its face downwards^ is laid upon it,

fore the death of that emperor, (ld5 of which it is found that die oudlne may be transferred

are still preserved in the imperial library at to the Burftice of the block by friction. The old

Vienna,) are of that wood. Bartsch, ** Peintre German wood engravers are said to have glued

Graveur,'' torn. vii. p. 2£9- the drawing itself, first made transparent, upon

* This is one way of doing it : but, of the block, and to have cut through it in

course^ in such matters, every artist follows a the manner used by the Chinese*

B 2

4 PROCESS OF WOOD ENGRAVING. [chap. i.

to receive the ink, and to be dark in the impression. The business
of the wood engraver is, therefore, to cut away and excavate the
wood with gouges, and other instruments, in all those parts which
are intended to be white in the impression ; which parts, of course,
are all those whereon no traces of the pen or pencil appear.

When the work is finished, the original and even surface of the
block remains in the places marked with the pen or pencil, and id
no others ; the wood being every where else hollowed out to such
a depth, as to render it easy for the printer to apply a black tint
to the projecting surface, by means of. a dabber, without soiling
the parts excavated and intended to appear whit6, and thus impossible
for the paper, in the moment of receiving the impression, to come
in contact with any piairts of the block, except such as are intended
to be impressed.

The greatest difficulty in wood engraving occurs in clearing out
the minute quadrangular lights, occasioned in the shadows by one
row of hatchings being crossed at a right angle by other hatchings;
To do this, so that each stroke shall presen'^e the freedom of the
pen, is indeed a task of extreme delicacy ; for that which, in draw-
ing or in copper-plate engraving, is done with one sweep of the pen
or burin, is here to be effected by a multiplicity of minute and tedi-
ous operations. Hence those artists of the present day, who are
accustomed to make designs for wood engraving, avoid cross-
hatchings as much as possible; depending, for the force of their
shadows, upon the thickness and proximity of the strokes, not, as
in copper-plate engraving, upon crossing and re-crossing them with
other strokes.

But however great the difficulty of representing the cross hiatch-
ings in wood engraving, it was surmounted by the German artists
of the beginning of the XVIth century, many of whose prints have
all the freedom of masterly pen drawings.*

* UpoD this subject I shall have occasion meanwhile, I will only caution the reader,
to speak more fully in a subsequent page ; that the doubts of Mr. Landseer, as to these

CHAP. I.] THE ANTIQUITY Of WOOD ENGRAVING. «

The Origin of Engraving in Wood, like that of many other
useful arts, is obscured by clouds, which the learned have in vain
laboured to dispel. The want of evidence, contemporaneous, or

old prints being really printed not from en-
graved wooden blocks, but rather from tablets
of cast metal, are rendered futile by the ac-
tual existence of a very great number of the
old wood blocks themselves ; and, amongst
others (I' speak it upon the unquestionable
authority of Mr. Douce, who had them for
«ome time in hb own possesnon), several of
those of die '' small set of die Passion," by

Albert Durer.

Mr. Land$eer's hypothesis (and I must
own it is a very ingenious one, since it fur-
liushes the faint for a new mode of manufac-
luring prints from cast metal blocks) seems
to me to have been founded upon fabe pre-
mises.' He takes it for granted, that wood
ei^raving, or, as he expresses himself, that
which has generally been considered wood en-
jgravingy was used by die old German artists, as
^< being obviously the easieU mode of proi>
ducing the effects which dieir authors had in
view,'' {Lectures, page 202). Now, says he,
many of these old prints, which are called
wood cuts, are full of cross hatchii^, which
could not, by my mediod we are acquainted
with, have been executed on wood without
extreme labour and difficulty ; and, therefore,
I suspect '* that ihey are eiUier etchings—
the lights being corroded away ; or, which is
yet more likely, that a prototype or matrix
was cut in intaglio, probably widi the gra-
ver, in which die tablets, from whence die
prints are taken, were cast in the manner of

letter-types."

But the fact appears to be, that wood en-
graving was resorted to by die greatest artiste

of Germany, as the most eligible mode of
multiplying their designs, not because it was
a process of smaU labour, but because it re->
quired mechanical dexterity, and litde else.
The designer finished his drawing virith firm
and decided strokes of the pen upon the
block, or on paper which was afterwards glued
upon it : inferior artists brought up under Ua
eye, and, perhaps, in his house, ^ere very
capable of cutting away the wood between
the strokes of die pen : litde or no knowledge
of drawing was necessary in die operation :
all that was required was sharp tools and
care. Thus an expert and able designer like
Albert Durer, or Hans Burghmair, could
find employment for a score of young men,
whose labours, as th^ value was entirely
dependent upon the skill of the des'^er,
were no doubt procured at a moderate price.
It is likewise to be remembered, that the
value of labour did not bear die same pro-
portion to the price of the metals in those
early times as it does now.

Jn engravings on copper, the ordinal artist
was obliged to execute the whole work him-
self, at least such was the custom of Albert
I>urer, and the odier engravers of his time,
whereas his superintendence alone was suffi-
cient in eiq;raving8 executed on wood. One
more remark vrill, I think, suffice to show
the advantages which the designers of Ger-
many derived from resortii^ to wood engrav-
ing ; the block, when once finished, was capa-
ble of fumishiff many thousand impressions,
whereas an engraving •n metal could fiir-
nbb, comparatively, but a very limited number.

a WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA, [chap, l

nearly contemporaneous with the truth sought for» has hitherto
rendered every attempt for its attainment unavailing; and conjecture
and hypothesis must still be employed to fill the chasms which
proofs cannot be found to occupy. That it is of Asiatic original,
appears to be the best founded opinion ; and if the name of its in-
ventor is destined ever to be known, it is most probable that it will
be found among the records of Eastern nations.

Of all the nations with which we are acquainted, China seems to
have the best claim to the invention.

It is well known that the Chinese, in writing their language, do
not describe words by means of a combination of letters, each ex^
pressive of a particular sound, as is the case in European languages ;
but that they represent each word of their endless vocabulary by
one distinct character serving to indicate it alone ; if, indeed, those
characters can properly be termed the representations of words,
which are often, individually, expressive of a sentiment that could
not, in speaking, be expressed without the assistance of many words.
The prodigious number of these characters, amounting, according
to some accounts, to eighty thousand, renders it impracticable for
them to print their books with moveable types. To cast them
separately would be an endless undertaking ; and, were it done, by
far the greater part of them would be of very rare occurrence.*
The method they pursue," says du Halde, " is as follows. The
work intended to be printed is transcribed by a careful writer upon
'^ thin transparent paper. The engraver glues each of these written
*' sheets, with its face downwards, upon a smooth tablet of pear
*' or apple-tree, or some other hard wood ; and then, with gravers
<^ and other instruments, he cuts the wood away in all those parts
upon which he finds nothing traced ; thus leaving the transcribed
characters ready for printing. In this manner he prepares as
many blocks as there are written pages. He then prints the num-
*' her of copies inmiediately wanted ; for he can always print more,

* J. B. du Ualde, " Description, &c. de TEaipire de la Chine.'' 4to. 17S6— torn. ii. p. 29d.

u
it

CHAP. I.] WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA.

44
44

if they are required, without the labour of re-composition ne-
cessary in typography : nor is any time lost in correcting the
proof sheets, for, as he is guided in his engraving by the strokes
of the written copy, or perhaps the original of the author him-
^ self, it is impossible for him to make any mistakes, if the copy
*' is written with exactness.

*' The advantage of this mode of printing is, that the booksellers
^ are not obliged to print a greater number of copies of any work
" than there is an immediate demand for; and consequently they
do not run the risk of only selling half their impression, and
of being ruined by useless expense, as often happens to Eu-
'^ ropean publishers. Besides, after having taken off thirty or
** forty thousand copies, they can easily have the engraved blocks
*' retouched, and fitted to throw off' other editions."

In printing, the Chinese do not use a press, as we do in
Europe; the delicate nature of their paper would not permit of it:
^ When once, however, the blocks are engraved, the paper is cut,
" and the ink is ready, one man,'' says du Halde, '* with his brush
*' can, without fatigue, print ten thousand sheets in a day,*

** The block to be printed must be placed level, and firmly fixed.
** The man must have two brushes; one of them of a stiffer kind,
'^ which he can hold in his hand, and use at either end. He dips it
into the ink, and rubs the block with it ; taking care not to wet
it too much, or to leave it too dry : if it were wetted too much,
*' the characters would be slurred ; if too little, they would not
print When the block is once got into a proper state, he can
print three or four sheets following without dipping his brush into
" the ink.

The second brush is used to rub over the paper, with a small
degree of pressure, that it may take the impression : this it does

44
U

44
44

* Dix mile feuilles. Had this number cipher extraordinary^ in honour of Chinese in-
been stated in figures, I should have given dustry. The account is absolutely hicredible.
the printer credit for having introduced a

WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA.

[chap. 1.

€€

€t

easily, for, not being sized with alum,, it receives the ink the instant
it comes in contact with it It is only necessary that the brush
should be passed over every part of the sheet .with a greater or
smaller degree of pressure, and repeated in proportion, as the
printer £inds there is more or less ink upon the block. This
'' brush is soft, and of an oblong form/'*

Thus, with great neatness, but on one side of the paper only, the
Chinese print their books, which are often embellished with en-
gravings in outline, of figures, landscapes, or other subjects, executed
in the same manner.

This art of printing from engraved blocks of wood appears to be
of very high antiquity amongst the Chinese ; and, indeed. Father
du Halde gives the fallowing passage, cited by an old Chinese . au-*
thor, from the moral writings of the celebrated Emperour Von Vang,
by which some writers have been led to conjecture that it was prac-
tised by them more than three thousand years ago; for that Prince
flourished 1120 years before Christf " As the stone Me,'* (a word
signifying ink in the Chinese language) '* which is used to blacken
the engraved characters, can never become white; so a heart
blackened by vices will always retain its blackness." This pas-
sage, however, is not cited by du Halde to prove the antiquity of
printing pmongst the Chinese, but solely in reference to their Ink,
.which it is possible might have been used by them, at a very ancient
period, tp blackep, and thereby render more easily legible, the cha-

* Du Halde, torn. ii. 299, SOD. The
extreme thinness and pliancy of die Chinese
paper renders a small degree of pressuce
sufficient. In the Museum ai the Indian
House, however, I was showQ, as a part of
the apparatus used in Chinese printing, a kind
of rubber, made somewhat in the form of a
cushion. This, and the brush, which accow-
panied it, for putting on the ink, were nuide,
as I was informed, of the fibres which en-

close the young shoots of the cocoannut tree.
The Clunese use their paper widiout damp-
ing it.

t Idem. torn. ii. p. 894. Itis remaricable, that
PapUlan, *^ Trait6 de la Gravure en Bois.*
tom. i. p. SO — and since him, Jamen, ** Essai
sur rOrigine de la Gravure.^ tom. i. p. 73,
have both cited this passage with a reference
to the antiquity of Chinese printing.

CBAP. I.] WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA. 9

racters of engraved * inscriptions. The art of printing, he informs
US in other parts of his book, was not discovered in China until
^out fifty years before the Christian era, under the reign of Ming
. Tsong L the second Emperour of the Tartarian dynasty, f

The Chinese were not acquainted with the art of making paper
until ninety-five years after Christ, before which period they had
been accustomed to transcribe, or print their writings, in volumes
of silk or cloth, cut into the form of leaves. |

So says Father du Halde; whose authority I give without any
comment, as the defence of Chinese chronology makes no part of
the present undertaking. That the art of block-printing was prac-
tised by the Chinese, and also by some other eastern nations, sever
ni centuries jxevious to the knowledge of sucfti an art amongst the
nations of Europe, is, on all sides, admitted; and it would be useless
labour to collect the proofe of that which no one is disposed to
deny. §

With respect to the period at which Wood Engravino was first
PRACTISED IN EuROPE, the Opinions of the learned have been greatly
at variance ; some writers having dated its commencement but a
little earlier than the invention of typography, to which it is sup-
posed to have given rise ; whilst others have considered it of much
more ancient usage. It has also been a question, and it is a ques-
tion to which, perhaps, no certain answer can now be given, whe-
ther we derived it fi-om the Chinese ; or, without any previous know-
ledge of their practice, discovered it ourselves. On the one hand,
we have no historical evidence that diis art was invented in Europe;
and, on the other, it has been contended, that we possess very scanty

* Tlie aQcifiDt Romans and the Etruscans, § The reader will find many curioos parti-

if I mistake not, often coloured the letters of culars reladve to oriental block-printing in

their engraved inscriptions with a red colour, the first volume of Papillon, '^ Trait£ Histo-

and upon some occasions gilded them. rique. Sic. de la Gravure en Bois.'^ 8vo.

t Da Halde— tom. i. p. 353 and 413. Paris, 1766.

% Du Halde — ^tom. ii. 288.

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OP

ICHAP. I.

accounts of that kind Of intercourse between China and the inhar
bitants of Europe, in early times, which might give likelihood to the
'^supposition that it found its way to us from that country ; .and,
moreover, that the writings of the earliest European travellers, who .
Tisited China, are silent upon the subject The question is, there-
fore, one of great difficulty, as we are left to decide concern-
ing it, on one side, or the other, not so much upon the evidence of
facts, as upon the preponderance of probabilities. The arguments
respecting it, however, will best develope themselves in.th^ course
of our inquiry.

The earliest document in favour of Wood Engraving in Europe
that I am itcquainted with (if document that may be called which
so many critics have agreed in condemning as spurious) is given by
Papillon; a writer on whom Heineken did not hesitate to pronounce
the severe sentence, that " he found him too. ignorant to merit any
" notice." ♦ Papillon, however, has since found a defender in Zani;
whose learning and deep research into the subjects I am treating of,
certainly entitle him to respect, and whose authority will be ad-
mitted as a sufficient ground for my granting a .further hearing to
the French writer in this place : especially as his case has not been
fairly stated, and bs the importance of the facts he records, renders
an inquiry into their authenticity well worth the labour.

* The sentence was more severe than the
offence merited. Papillon had understood
the generic term alea (a term properly ap^
plied to denote gaming of all sorts) to signify
cards. It was at most a venial error, and
could indeed be defended upon the ground
that cards might very properly l^ included in
its meaning. — Even the authors of the Foca-^
holario della Crusca use it to denote cards,
(Venezia, 1763. t. i. p. 424. § xii.). They
say, '' Cabte diciamo anche a un mazzo di
** Carte dipinte, delle quali ci serviamo per
** giucare. Laf, alea, charta lusoria, Sic/*

Heineken^ however, is very angry, and pee-

visbly says in a note (Idte G6ndrale> p. 239),
Je n'aurois pas nomm6 ici Papillon, ' si je
n'avois pas cit6, sur sa foy, dans mon ou-
*^ vrage Alemand, Vbdkt de St. Louis de Tan*
'' n6e 1254. Mais apr^ avoir cherch^ et lA
'^ moi-mlme cet Mt dans la Bibliotheque
'' Royale de Paris, j'ai vft que cet ^crivaiu
*^ e^t trop ignorant, pour 6tre allegu6 k
** Tavenir/' — Heineken's own readers are the
sufferers, since his book contains several er-
rors, which a little more respect for die la-
bours of other writers, and, amongst the rest,
for those of Papillon, would perhaps have
prevented his committing.

CHAP. I.J

THE TWO CUNIO, A.D. 128«.

The nature of the investigation makes it necessary, in the first
place, that I should insert an extract of considerable length, from
Papillon's book; in the course of which I shall occasionally offer a
short observation of my own, by which the reader will be the better
prepared for the argument which follows.

'* It is more than thirty-five years ago,*^ says Papillon, " since I
^ mislaid three sheets of paper, upon which I had writt^i the de-
'^ scriptions of certain ancient books of wood engravings. For k
*^ long time there only remained a very confiised idea of them in my
^' mind r I remember to have searched for those papers, more than
^ twenty times in the course of writing my book, or upon the occa-
^ sions of my sending such parts of it as were finished to the press.
^^ By accident, on the day of All-Saints, in the year 1758, 1 chanced
*' to discover those manuscript sheets, which had given me so much
^^ uneasiness, amongst a bundle of papers for hanging rooms, which
^' my deceased father was, at one time, accustomed to manufacture,
w The circumstance gave me the greater pleasure, as, from the
*' name of a Pope, I discovered in these writings an epoch • of en-
'^ graving prints, and characters, in wood, certainly much more an-
^^ cient than any hitherto known in Europe; accompanied by a story
'* relative to this subject, at once curious and interesting. I had
*' so far lost the remembrance of all this, that I had not de-
signed to make even the slightest mention of it in this history
of my art.* This is the proper place to speak of it : but, first,
I must inform my readers how it came to my knowledge^

i€

€€

^*^ J'avois tellement perdue le souvenir de
lout cda, que je n'avois pas daign^ en dire la
'< moindre chose dans cette Histoire de mon
*^ Art/' And, in fact, his book seems to
have been, for the most part, written before
he happened to find fte memoranda so long
mislaid: for in the preceding paragraph
(torn. i. p. 62,) he coigectures that engraving
in wood maj have been invented in the xivth
centurj. ** Toutes les anciennes Gravures

'^ en bois Boat sans date et sans noms de
'^ Graveurs, de fiison que Ton ne peut ru-
*' sonnablement remonter plus haut, pour leur
'' antiquit6, qu'au commencement du quin*
'' zi^me siecle, quoique la Gravure en bois
*^ ait pA itre inventie dans le quatorziime/*
&c. He, therefore, appears to have intro-
duced this narrative^ just as he found it, with-
out taking the trouble to alter that which he
had previously written, however contradictory.

PAPILLONTS ACCOUNT OF

[chap. I.

' ^ When I was a very yoiing mah> and employed by toy fitther,
^ almost every week-day, in different places, to paste or arrange
^ our papers for the hanging of rooms, it happened that in 1719
^ or 1720, I was sent to the village of Bagneux, near Mont-Rouge^
^* to a Mr. De Greder, a Swiss Captain, who there possessed a very
^ pretty house. After I had papered a cloeet for him, he em-
^' ployed me to paste certain papers, in imitation of Mosaic, upon
^ the shelves of his lilnrary. One day, after dinner, he found me
^ reading in one of his books, and was, in consequence, induced to
^ shew me two or three very ancient vcdumes, which had been lent
^< to him by a Swiss officer, one of his friends, that he might examine
^* them at his Idsure : we conversed together about the prints con^
^ tained in them, and concerning the antiquity of Engraving in
^ Wood. I will now give the descriptions of these anci^it volumes;
^ such as I wrote them in his ^presence, and as he had the good-
** ness to dictate, and explain to me.
^ Upon a ^ cartouch,'^ or frontispiece, decorated with fanciful
ornaments, (which, although gothic, ajre far from disagreeable,)
and measuring about nine inches in widths by six in height; with,
'' at the top of it, the arms, no doubt, of the family of CuNio, are

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r^ '' TeOe que je I'toim deTant kii, et
*.* qn^il eut la boiit£ de me Fezpliqaer et de
•' me la dieter/' (p. 84). We have, there-
fore, no other than a correct copy of that
which PaiNUon wrote more than thirty-five
years before, with these ancient books before
him, and in the presence of M« de Greder;
not wm account written by nenory,

Pi^oii was bora in Jiiae 1^98: in 1719
or 1720, therefore, when be saw the book
in question, he was in his 21st or S2d year.
In 1758, when he recovered the manuscript
uemoranda which he bad so long mislaid,
he was, of consequence, about ^.

f I am obliged to retain the French word
cartouckp since I can find no lerm in the

Eni^ish laqgui^ by which to express its
meaniqg. It is used to denote those fantastic
ornaments which were formerly introduced
in decorating the wainscots of rooms;, and
frequently served the purpose of frames, sur-
rounding inscriptions, small paintings, or
other devices. These cartouchu were sMch
in vogue in the sixteenih and seventeenth cen-
turies, for the frontis|Heces of books of prints;
and, indeed, Callal and Delia Bella etched
many entire sets of small sub)ects, surrounded
by similar ornaments. Fjrom the irrq;ularity of
thw forms, die terms — tablet, shield, or
pannel — ^wonld be but ill expressive of their
character.

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1985.

^ rudely engraved the following wohls^ in bad Latin^ or andant
^^ gothic Italian^ with many abbreviations :"

[So far Papillon himself, who described what he saw before him.
The coat of arms at top, says he, is no doubt that of the &mily
of Cunio: as for the inscription, he could not determine whether
it was in Latin, or in old Italian ; much less conld he riead it It
is, however, prc^abie that he was able to make out the names
of Alexander, Pope Hooorius IV., and the two Cunio. Mr. de
Greder deciphered^ and translated the inscription, and dictated to
him to this ^fect :]

« THE HEROIC ACTIONS, REPRESENTED IN FIGURES,

'^ Of the great and Tnagnanirnous Macedonian King, the bold find
valiant Alexander; dedicated, presented, and humbly offered to the
most holy father Fope Honorius IV., the glory and support of

'^ the Church, and to our illustrious and generous father and mother,
by us Alessandro Alberico Cunio, Ca^aliere, and Isabella Cunio,
tTsm brother and sinter: first reduced, imagined, and attempted to
be executed in relief with a small knife, on blocks of wood, made
even and polished by this learned and dear sister; continued, and finished
by us together, at 'Ravenna, from the eight pictures of our invention,
painted six times larger than here represented; engraved, explained
by verses, and thus marked upon the paper, to perpetuate the number
of them, and to enable us to present them to our relations and friends, in
testimony of gratitude, friendship, and c§€CtvM. AU this was done
and finished by us when only sixteen years (fageJ* *

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* The cramped style of diis iiucriptioD, in
the French, furnishes, I think, most satisfac-
tory evidence, that it was bonmjide, and lite-
rally, translated from a Latin original:

LeS CHSTALEUREtTX FaITS

en Figures.
^ Du grand et magnaniine Mac^donien
^ Koi, le preux et vaillant Alexandre, dMi6,
'< pr6sent6 et offert faumblement an tr^

** saint pere le Pape, Honorius IV, la gloire
'' et le sootien de I'Eglise, et Ji nos 'iliostres
** et g6n6rettx pere et meie, par nous Alex-
^ andfe Aibeiic Canio, CShcvsllier, et Isabelle
^ Cunio, fr^reetsoearjumeaax/premi^rement
^< rUait, imaging et essay€ de iaire en rdKef,
^ atec un petit oooteau, en tables de bois,
'' nntes et polies par oette sgavante et chere
^ scenr, continues et acheT69 ensemUement

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U PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. t.

Having given this inscription^ as dictated to him in French by
Mr. de Greder, Papillon continues his remarks — ^^This cartouch
is enclosed in a square, formed by a simple black line, one-twelfth
of an inch in thickness; a few light hatchings, irregularly placed^
*^ and executed without precision, indicate the shadows of the or-
naments. The whole, like the prints which follow, was taken
off, according to all appearances, with a pale tint of indigo in.
distemper, by passing the hand several times over the paper,,
after it had been laid on the block ; in the simple manner used by
'' the manufacturers of cards in printing their addresses, and the.
" wrappers in which they enclose their packs of cards. The ground,
" or field of the print, not having been sufficiently hollowed out in
" the block in some places, has occasioned the paper, which is of a
" brownish colour, to be smeared in those parts; in consequence of
*^ which the following memorandum was written on the margin be-
** neath; that the fault might be rectified. It is in gothic Italian,^
which M. de Greder had great difficulty to decipher, and was,^
no doubt, written upon this proof, probably the first taken from,
the block, by the hand of the Chevalier Cunio, or that of hi&

" sister."

*' The ground of the wooden blocks must be hollowed deeper^.

" that the paper may not touch it any more in receiving the im^
^' pression,'* ♦

Papillon resumes his remarks. '' Immediately following this firontis^
piece," says he, **are the eight pictures, engraved in wood, of the same
dimensions, and surrounded by a similar fillet : they have, also, a few

*^ i Ravenne, d' apr^ les huit tableaux de ** fini, ftg^s seulement Tun et Tautre de seize

^* DOtre inventioD, peints ax fob pliu grand» ** ann^es parfaites."

** qu' ici repriseDtis ; taill^ expliqu^s ea The dedication appears to have been writ-

*f ytfs, et ainsi marquis sur le papier, pour ten by the brother*

'^ (Bia pierpituer le nombre, et en pouvoir * This written memorandum, like die

'* .donner i nos parens et amis, par recon* printed inscription, Papillon, it is to be re»

^' iioissance, amitii et affection. Ce fait et gretted, has only given in French.

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XHAP- 1.] THE TWO CCNIO, A. D. 1286. ?15

** light hatchings to indicate the shadows. At the .bottom of each of
'' these prints, between the broad line or fillet which bounds the sub-
*' ject, and another parallel line, distant from it about the breadth of
a finger, are four Latin verses, engraved upon the block, which
poetically explain the subject; and above each is its title.
The impressions of all of them resemble that of the frontispiece;
being of a grey tint, and spotty ; as if the paper had not been
damped or wetted before it was laid upoii the engraved blocks.
The figures, which are passable in respect to their outlines, although
'' of a semi-gothic taste, are sufficiently well characterized and
draped ; one may perceive by them, that, in Italy, the arts of
design were then beginning, by degrees, to experience melioration*
" The names of the principal personages represented, are engraved
'' under their figures : as Alexander, Phihp, Darius, Campaspe, an,d
*' others.

" FiBST SUBJECT. Alexander mounted on Bucephalus, whom he
** has tamed* Upon a stone are these words : Isabel Cunio pinx.
** ,et scalp.

** . Second subject. The passage of the Granicus : near the.trunk
" of a tree are engraved these .words: j4/er. Alh. Cumo Equ. pimt.
" Isabel. Cunio Scalp.

" Thibd subject. Alexander cutting the Gordian knot. Upon
" the pedestal of a column are these words : Alexan. Albe. Cunio

Equ. pinx. et scalp. This print is not so well . engraved as the

preceding.

*' Fourth subject. Alexander in the tent of Darius. This print
" is one of the best, both for composition and engraving, of the
*' whole set Upon the border of a garment, the following words
*' are engraved : Isabel. Cunio pinxit et scalp.

^* Fifth subject. Alexander generously giving Campaspe, his
mistress, to Apelles, who was painting her picture. The figure of
this beauty is far from unpleasing. The painter appears trans-
" ported with joy at his good fortune. At the bottom, upon a sort of

la PAPILLOI«rS ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

€1

antique tablet^ are these words : Akx. Alb. Cufdo Egues. pinr. et
scalp.

'' Sixth stiftrscr. The famous battle of Arbella. Upon a hillock
^ of earth are these words : Akx. Alb. Equ. et Isabel. Cwdo Pictor.
^ et Scalp. This also is one of the subjects^ the best composed, de-

sigpedy and engraved.

Seventh subject. The vanquished Poms, conducted into the
presence of Alexander. This design, independent of its merit, is
very remarkable, as it is composed very much like that of the
^ same subject by the celebrated Le Brun : one would almost think
^* that he had copied this print. The figures of Alexander and
^ Porus have equally an air of grandeur and magnanimity.* Upon a
stone, near d. bush, are engraved these words : Isabel. Cvmo pinx.
et scalp.

Eighth, and last subject. The Glory and grand Triumph of
Alexander, upon his entry into Babylon. This piece is also well
composed, and was executed, Hke the sixth, by the brother and
sister conjointly; as these characters, engraved at the foot of a
wall, testify: Alex. Alb. Equ. et Isabel Cunio, Pictor. et Scalp.

'' This print has been torn at top : a piece, about three inches in
length by one inch in height, is wanting.
Upon the blank leaf, which follows this last print,'' continues

Papillon, ** are these words, badly written in old Swiss characters,

'^ with ink so pale that they are scarcely legible.''
[Of course Papillon could not read Swiss — ^Mr. de Greder, there-

fore^ translated them for him into French.]

This precious book was given to my grandfather Jan. Jacq.
Turine, a native of Beme, by the illustrious Count de Cunio,
magistrate (podestk) of Imola, who honoured him with his liberal
friendship. Of all the books I possess, I esteem it tibie most; on ac-
count of the quarter from whence it came into onr family, the
science, the valour, the beauty of the amiable twins Cunio^
and their noble and generous intention of thus gratifying their

44
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44

CHAP. J.J THE TWO CUNIO, A, D. 1285. 17

^^ relatives and friends. Behold their singular and curious hi|toiy^
'* iij the manner in which it was several times related to me by
'* my venerable father/ and according to which I have caused it
^' to be written more legibly than I myself could have done it ♦

[The signature of this ancient possessor of the book does not
appear.]

That which follows/' says Papillon, '' is written with blackc?
ink; but in the same kind of characters, although better
^* formed,

^' The young and amiable Cvinio, twin brother and sister, were
" the first children of the son of the Count di .Cunio, which he
" had by a noble and beautiful Veronese lady, allied to' the fa-
^< mily of Pope Honorius IV. when he was only a Cardinal. This
young nobleman had espoused this young lady clandestinely,
without the knowledge of the relations of either of them ; who,
when they discovered the affair, by her pregnancy, caused the
marriage to be annulled, and the priest, who had married the two
>' lovers, to be banished. The noble lady, fearing equally the
" anger of her father and that of the Count di Cunio, took refuge
y in the house of one of her aunts, where she was deUvered of
^' these twins. Nevertheless, the Count di Cunio, out of regard to
his son, whom he obliged to espouse another noble lady, per-
mitted him to bring up these children ift his house, which was
done with every instruction and tenderness possible, as well on
the part of the Count, as on that of his son's wife, who con-
^' ceived such an affection for Isabella Cunio, that she loved and
'* cherished her as if she had been her own daughter; loving
" equally Alessandro Alberico Cunio her brother, who, like his
" sister, was full of talent, and of a most amiable disposition.
'* Both of them made rapid advances in various sciences, profiting

* Thp 8^Ie of this memor^dum, as {^v^n of a cramped traoslatioii from old wridng 10
}n die French, is also very unlijce Papillon's another language. The same observation ap-
tisual manner of writing. It bears every mark plies to the longer narrative vrhich follows,

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le PAPILLON'S ACXX>tJTn' OF [chap. i.

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U
U

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it
a

by the iijstradiicm cf dieir masters ; but especially Isabella^ who,
at thirtefen years of age, was already considered «is a prodigy; for
she perfectly understood and wrote Latin, composed verses, had
ac^^uired a knowledge of geometry, was skilful in music, and
played upon several mstruments : moreover, she was practised
in drawing, and painted with taste and delicacy. Her brother,
^ urged on by enralation, endeavoured to equal her; often, how-
ever, acknowledging, that he feh that he could never attain so
high a degree of perfection : he himself was, nevertheless, one
^' of the finest young men of Italy; he equalled his sister in beauty
^' of person, and possessed great courage, elevation of soul, and
^* an uncommon degree of facility in acquiring and perfecting him-
** self in whatever he applied to. Both of them constituted the
delight of their parents, and they loved each other so perfectly,
that the pleasure or chagrin of the one, or the other, was di-
vided between them. At fourteen years of age this young gen-
*' tleman could manage a horse, was practised in the use of arms,
** and in all exercises proper for a young man of quality; he also
'^ understood Latin, and had considerable skill in painting.

*' His father, having, in consequence of the troubles of Italy,
<' taken up arms, was induced, by his repeated solicitations, to
^ take him with him the same year,'' (viz. at the age of 14) '* that,
under his eyes, he might make his first campaign. He was in-
trusted with ttie command of a squadron of twenty-five horse,
^' with whibh, for his first essay, he attacked, routed, and put to
flight, afi;er a vigorous resistance, almost two hundred of the
enemy ; but his courage having carried him too far, he unexpectedly
found himself surrounded by many of the fugitives ; from whom,
nevertheless, with a valour not to be equalled, he succeeded in dis-
engaging himself, without sustaining any other injury tlan thai of
'* a wound in his left arm. His father, who had flown to his suc-
cour, found him returning with one of the standards of the
enemy, with which he had bound up his wound: he embraced
'' him, full of delight at his glorious achievements, and, at the same

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CHAP* ij THE TWO CUNIO, A* D. 128^. la^

'' tim^ as his woimd was not cpnsidarable, and as he was desirous
^' to reward such great bravery upoa the spot» he solemnly made
'* him a knight^ (although he was already one by his birth,^) dub-
^ bipg him in the same place where he had given such great {Hpoofs
^ of his extraordinary valour. The young man was so transported
^^ with joy at this honour, which he recdved in the presence of
'' the troops commanded by his father, (who, in consequence of
^^ the death of his fieithen which had recently happened, was now be-
'^ come Count di Cunio,) that, wounded as he was, he instantly de-
^' manded the permission to go and see his mother ; that he might
inform her of the glory, and of the honour ^(Hbdch he had just
acquired ; which was granted by the Count, the more readily, as
^^ he was glad to have this opportunity of testifying to that noble
^' and afflicted lady, (who had always remained with her aunt a few
^< miles from Ravenna) the love and esteem which he ever con-
^' tinued to entertain for her ; of which he certainly would have
^' given more solid proofs by re-establishing their marriage, and
^^ by pubUcly espousing her, had he not felt it his duty to cherish
'^ the wife his ikther had obliged him to marry, by whom he had

'' several children.

^* The young Knight, therefore, immediately set out, escorted by
*^ the remains of his troop, out of which he had eight or ten men
^' killed, or wounded. With this equipage, and these attendants,
^' who bore testimony to his valour wherever he passed, he arrived
^ at the residence of his mother, with whom he staid two days;
^ after which he repaired to Ravenna, to show a similar mark of re^
^ spect to the wife of his father, who was so charmed by his noble
^' actions, as well as by his attentions towards her, that she herself led
'^ him by the hand to the apartment of the amiable Isabella, who,
^ seeing him with his arm bound up, was at first alarmed. He
'^ remained a few days in this city; fopt, impatient to return to his

* Probably this expression in the original XKnight) was anciently, peAaps, as it is now
only meant that the yonng Cunio was a patri- in Italy, synonymous with gentleman^ or
eian by birth. The term " Cavaliere" nobleman.

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80 FAPIELON'Sr ACCOUNT OF [chap, u

f* father, that He might have ao opportunity of distinguishing him-*
^^ iself in new exploits, he set. off before his wound was yet healed.
^* The Count reprimanded him for not having sent back his troop,
^^ and for not remaining at Ravenna till he was cured, and would
^* not permit him to serve again during the rest of the campaign :
•V shortly afler^ when his arm was . perfectly healed, he sent him
^^ home, saying to him pleasantly, that he did not choose to be
outdone by him all the remaining time that the troops would
continue in action that year* It was soon after this, that Isabella
and he began to coQipose and execute the pictures of the ac->
^* tions of Alexander. He made a second campaign with his father,
^* after which he again worked upon these pictures, conjointly with
^^ Isabella, who applied herself to reduce them, and to engrave them
on blocks of woods^ After they had finished and printed these pieces,
and presented them to Pope Honorius, and to their other relations
and friends, the Cavalier joined the army for the fourth time,
^* accompanied by a young nobleman, one of his friends^ called
*^ Pandulfio ; who, enamoured of the lovely Isabella, was desirous
to signalize himself, that he might become more worthy of her
hand, before he espoused her. But this last campaign was fatal
td the Cavalier Cunio : he fell, covered with woupds, by the side
of his friend, who, whilst attempting to defend him, was also
f' dangerously wounded. Isabella was so much affected by the
'* death of her brother, which happened when he was not yet nine-
'' teen, that she determined never to marry : she languished, and
'' died when she had scarce completed her twentieth year. The
*' death of this beautiftil, and learned young lady, was followed by
'* that of her lover, who had always hoped that his attentions and
'/ affection towards her would be rewarded by her consent, at
V length, to become his,— ^and also by that of her mother, who
*' could not survive the loss .of her beloved children. The Count di
** Cunio, who had been deeply afflicted by the death of his son,
'^ could scarcely support that of his daughter. Even the Countess
'* di Cunio, who loved Isabella with great tenderness, fell ill of

CHAP. 1.] THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1=286. 3i

(4
it

grief for her loss ; and would have sunk under it, had she not

been supported by the manly fortitude of the Count Happily

the health of the Countess was, by degrees, re-established. Some

years afterwards, the generous Count di Cunio gave this copy of

" the actions of Alexander, bound* as it now is, to my grandfather ;

'* and I have caused the leaves of paper to be inserted, upon which,

'' by my orders, this history was written."

[Papillon resumes his observations.]

From the name of Pope Honorius IV. engraved on the frontis-
piece of these ancient prints of the actions of Alexander, it is
'* most certain that this precious monument of engraving on wood,
and of the art of taking impressions, was executed between the
years 1284 and 1285 ;f because that Pope, to whom it was
dedicated, governed the church only for the space of two years ;
that is, from the second of April 1285, to the third day of the
same month in the year 1287 : the epoch, therefore, of this ancient
specimen of engraving, is anterior to all the books, printed in
Europe, that have been hitherto known. Mr. Spirchtvel, the offi-
cer who was the possessor of this copy, and the friend of Mr. de
^ Grcder, was one of the descendants of Jan. Jacq. Turine, who
" was the ancestor of his mother. The death of Mr. de Greder
" having taken place many years ago, I am unable to learn where
" this book is at present to be seen, so that its authenticity might
" be established to the satisfaction of the public, and that which
" I have written be confirmed. It is, however, very probable that
** the copy which was given to Pope Honorius, may be preserved in
" the library of the Vatican, at Rome."

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44
44
44

* Note o^ Papillon to this passage. " die attack of the woims: the cover has

*' This ancient and Gothic binding is made " been eaten by them into holes in manj

" of thin tablets of wood, covered with lea- " places.**

*^ ther, and ornamented with flowered com- f Papillon should have said 1286— or

*^ partments, which appear simply stamped 1286* It is possible, indeed, that the work

'' and marked with an iron a little warmed, was b^un in 1284.
^* without any gilding. It has not escaped

-I

22 PAPILLON« ACCOUNT OF [chap. r.

I will not add to the length of this extract, by transcribing the
account that Papillon has left us of two other ancient books of
wood engravings, which he saw, upon the same occasion, in the
house of Mr. de Greder; as they had no marks from which their
dates might be conjectured.* I shall proceed, with all due impar-
tiality, to notice the opinions of different writers respecting the
genuineness of the above interesting narrative ; and to set forth,
on the one hand, the arguments that may be advanced in its favour ;
and, on the other, the difficulties which oppose themselves to our
belief of it.

I have already observed, that most authors (by which I mean
more especially those who have treated on the subject of engrav-
ing) appear to have considered the whole account as absolutely
spurious. Several of the German writers, indeed, are so well satis-
fied on this point, that they deem its very refutation unnecessary.
Neither Heineken, in his " Idee Generale," and '* Dictionnaire des
" Artistes," — nor Huber, in his " Manuel des Amateurs," nor Bartsch,
in his *' Peintre Graveur," have even deigned to notice it. It was
enough, that Italy had dared to advance her claims to the invention
of copper-plate engraving ; that she should put forth pretensions
to priority in wood engraving also, was too much to be borne. It
would however be unfair to infer, that these writers withheld their
pens, because they knew not how to disprove the evidence of Papillon
and the Swiss officer ; — ^no doubt they thought that so palpable a for-
gery, as they considered it, was best treated with silent contempt.

Heineken, I find, indeed, had mentioned the story in a previous
work, although with such little alterations, as he thought requisite,
to fit it for his purpose ; for, instead of the name of Pope Honorius,
in the dedicatory inscription, he inserted that of Pope Urban; and
added, moreover, that Papillon, when he wrote the account, was
only fourteen years of age ; whereas it is certain that he was, at least,
one and twenty.

^ One of them coDtained figures of the of ancient Kings and Heroes.
Prophets and Sibyls ; the other, the portraits

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNH), A. D. 1286.

These mkrepresentilioQs did not escape the ceittiure of Be Murr ; *
imd Heineken, who, doubtless, considered some explanation neces-
sary, afterwards wrote a long cha^rier on the subject of Papillon's
book, and more eapecially on liiat writer's account of the two Cunio,
wlttok appeared in his work, printed in 1766, under the title of
^ Neae Nachnchten.''

After a few general remarks, similar to tliose ia his - Id6e
G^n^rale,'' upon the folly and credulity ^f Papillon, and the nu-
merous errors of liis book ; and an unsucoessfiil attempt to diow that
the honest «ulogium, shortly before bestowed upon the French
writer's labours, by some learned jaumaliste of Germany, was no
ether liian ^^ satyr in disguise,'' he enten upon an elaborate ex-
amination of the subject in question. T3u:oi^ this examination it
is unneoeasafy to accompany him, as the result of his inquiries
may be sufficiently colleoted from the following extract

^ It will iTeadily be imagined," says Heineken^ ^' iihat during my
^* stay at Paris, thfoughoutthe year of 1769> I was very desirous to get
'< some more certain ^intelligence respecting these wood engravings.
^' That there was something wrong f about PapiUon, I had, indeed,
** aright to conclude from the general tenor of his ibook, and especially
^' from his description of these engravings, which I have faithfully
^' tiran^ated : nevertheless. I hoped to learn something further on

* Chriitoj^ Th^tphile de Mwr, (Btblio-
theque de Peioture, ^ Sculpture, et de Gra-
Ture; 2 vols. 12ino. Fraokfort, 1770) after
haying given PaptV/on's narrative of the two
Cuino,terbatiin, observes as follows — ^^'Jene
*^ 8$ai pas ponrqooi Mr. de Hbinsebn,
^' au second volume Von KumtUm and
^ Kiindstsachen, p. xxxvi. cite si fausse-
^ ment ce trait curieox et remarquable. Au
^ Ueu d' Honore, il met Ihbain; il dit, que
** Mr. PapiUon ^it alors 14 ans. Mais il
'< en avoit au moins 21, £tant n6 Tan 1698-''.
Whether these blunders of Heineken origi-

nated in carelessness, or in design, I shall leave
the reader to determine.

^ Heineken takes some pains to show that*
poor PapillonyfBB not in his right mind ; and,
amongst bis other arguments for that purpose,
quotes a passage from his book, 1 1 • p. 335,
in which he saj8,''Par un accident et tmefata*
lite commune dplusieurs graveurs, aussi bien
qu'i moi, Le Fevre est devenu alieni S esprit:^'
as if a little pleasantry of expression, such as the
French writevsi especially, have ever felt them-
selves at full liberty to indulge in, could really-
constitute fit grounds for a st9tute of lunacy.^.

24 TAPILLOITS ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

♦' the subject in a conversation 'with himself: but when I repre-
" sented to him the extreme improbability of wood engravings
^^ having been executed at ImolsLr or Ravenna, in 1285; a thing
'' mentioned by no Italian writer whatever; and also that the
^ chronology of Pope Honorius IV., did not at all agree with that of
*' Count Cunio; for that although the history ofRavenna did mention
f< a. Count Alberico Ciinio, he did not live at the time of Honorius,
f^ hut of Urban VI. and Martin V. ; I could get nothing from
f ' him, except that he could not read . the ^' Old LaOin, w Gothic
f ^ ItaUan imcriptum on the engraved frontispiece, and was absolutely
f^ ignorant in what language it was really written. . That which ht
f ' had written, he repeated, was merely a faithful record of what
f^ De Greder had dictated to him.

^' Now, although, in my further researches," continues Heine^
ken, '' I could discover nothing more; for Bagneux is not far from
*^ Paris, and is oflen resorted to as a place of amusement; and
although all the connoisseurs of Paris laughed at my talking about
that Romance of Papillon, and Mr. Mariette, in particular, as*
*' sured me that I should make myself ridiculous by even men-
^' tioning Papillon, (for that I could not but know that he '(Mariette)
who was so thoroughly acquainted mth Italy f must long ago have
discovered such a work, had Mich a work, executed in 1285, existed,)
I am, nevertheless, still of opinion that such wood-cuts of the
" Life of Alexander the Great do exist; although not of the an-
tiquity which Papillon supposed. There is no such book,
engraved by the Count Cunio and his sister at Ravenna, and dedi-
cated to Pope Honorius IV., to be found in the Vatican library ;
if I may rely on the information of the Counsellor Bianconi,
and the prelate Bottari : but still there must be something true
in Papillon's account ; for, from my knowledge of his character^
^* and his manner, when I conversed mth him, I am firmly per^
^ suaded tJuU he did not invent that which he told me. That a
*' history of Alexander the Great, engraved in wood afler a ma-
^^ nuscript dedicated to Pope Honorius, might have been printed at

U
€€

€€
U
€(
€€

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A- D. 1285.

Sfl

' the latter part of the fifteenth century, when such works were
' most frequent; and that these wood-cuts might have been the
' work of an engraver called Cunio, is by no means impossible ;
especially as there really existed painters of that name at
Milan ^ The Swiss Captain may answer for the ro-
mance about the twins/' ^
Heineken cannot be accused of want of candour upon this
occasion. He appears like a pleader, who, after having rigidly
cross-examined a suspected witness, is at length convinced of his
veracity. The reader will, however, soon find that he was him-
self in error, when he asserted that there was no Count Alberico
Cunio in the time of Honorius the IVth; and will learn, in a sub-
sequent chapter, how far he ought to bow before the boasted om-
niscience of Mariette. The truth is, that upon these, as upon all
other subjects, much knowledge still remains to be obtained, even
by him who knows the most, f

* Unfortunately, however, we have no ac-
count of any artist of the name of Cunio
(always ezceptiog the twhis) until late hi the
•ixteenth centary.

t That Siariettef whose readhig and eru-
dition^ upon all matters relatmg to the arts
of design; were certainly very extensive, should
now and then have forgot this maxim, (as
upon the occasion of his conversation with
Heineken) will hardly be wondered at, by
any one^ho peruses the extravagant compli-
ments lavished upon him by all the cognoi^
centi of his day ; and more especially by the
writen of Italy. The following specimen,
extracted from a letter written by Mamgnor
Botiari to the editor of the lives of the
Painters, by Criambaithta Ptmeri, and pre-
fixed to that work, upon its publication at
Rome, in 1772, in 4to, may suffice. After

having bestowed a well-merited eulogium on
the work in question, he says:

*^ The first account which I had of these
'^ lives, I received from the most learned
<' Sig. Pietro Mariette; who, in a letter
^* addressed to me, and printed at the begin-
f < ning of the sixth volnme of the ^ Lettere
'' Pittoriche,' at p. 10, says : I haw a Life
'' of Pietro da Coftona in MS. by Oio.
'' BattiOa Paaeri, which if mftnUhtd; and
^ that part of U which i$ done, 4$ iU dam*
** But let not this critidsm of Monsieur
^* Mariette surprise you, for in matters of
*^ this kind he is the most erudite and insati'
'' able {incontentahik) man now livmg, or,
<' perimps, that ever did five; nor is it pro*
^ bable that there will ever be another pos-
'' sessed of a museum more rich in worica of
^ this kind, or more interesting, as well for

PAPILLON^S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. I.

Strait mentions the story of the two Cunio, but considers it worthy
of but little credit; an opinion, in the formation of which his own
miscomprehension of the original French appears to have had no
small share. ^* If this story be true/' says he» '^ and such engravings
^^ with the foregoing title ever did exist, they must have been ex-

I _

ecuted in the years 1284 or 1285; for Honbrius IV., to whom the
work is dedicated, sat only those two years in the Papal Chair.
But, as Papillon gives this story upon the sole evidence of the
Swiss officer, and had never seen any part of the engravings,
the generality of authors have not been inclined to give much
" credit to the fact, which at best is exceedingly doubtful/' ♦ Now
it is most evident, from Papillon's account, that he had seen these
prints with his own eyes, and examined them at his leisure. The
Lis, officer merely listed him by deciphering and translating
the inscriptions upon the frontispiece, and the manuscript his-
tory of tlie two Cunio, inserted at the end of the book, after the
prints.

Padre della Valle, in his preface to the fifth volume of his edition
of Vasari, (Siena, 1791 to 1794) gives Papillon's narrative at length,
and shows no inclination to question its authenticity. '^ It would be
" no matter of wonder/' says he, "if at Ravenna, which, during the

'' its printed books, as its numuscripts ;
*' treasures, had Passeri had an opportonity
'' of seeing them, would, doubdess, have en*
'' abled him to make this life of Pietro da
** Cortcna mcMre el^ant, more ample, more
** correct, and more rich, as' he did 'the
'' others,'' 8ic. Thus the injustice of the
French critic's censure (for Passeri's work
is deservedly admired) furnished an escellent
opportunity for a highflown pan^yric.

Heineken, it is to be observed, did not say
one word of Papillon's story of the two
Cunio; or of his decided apmhn, that some

work of wood engraving, like that
by Papillon, did exist, in his '' Id^ 6£n6*
rale/' published two years after lus visit to
Paris: no doubt, lest Mariette, who was
then alive, should laugh at him for imagining
that such a work could have escaped his re-*
seardies: but, in 1786, Mariette having then
been more than ten years dead, he took cou-
rage, and boldly asserted the right to speak
his own opinions !

• Dkiitmary of Engraven^ — ^vol. ii. Es-
say, p. IS.

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

'^ middle ages, was the Athens of the fine arts, some one, amongst the
" numerous artists, who flocked to it, not only from the different cities
'* of Italy, but also from countries on the other side of the Alps,
" and even from Greece, should have invented the art of engraving
*^in wood for the purposes of impression.''* Lanzi, I am obliged to
confess, is not of the same opinion : he, indeed, mentions Papil-
Ion's account, but acknowledges '^ that it contains some things so

€i

- * He conjectures, indeed, that the term
4iUuminar, used by Dante in speaking of
Oderq;o d'AgubUo, the miniature painter,
(Canto xi. del Pdrgaturio).
O, dissi lui, nan u iu Oderid
Uhonor d^AgobbiOy et f honor di quelF arte.
CK dUuminar i chiamata in Parisi f
might include, in its meaning, the art of en-
grafing the outlinea of the figures, intended to
be coloured, in wood; and, he observes, that

certain manuscripts of Danie, and in other

ancient books, are to be seen impressions,''
(he speaks of letters) ** which appear to have
^' been made with engraved pieces of wood ;
'' because we find in them that great degree
'^ of r^ularity and resemblance, wbich^ with-
** out incredible labour and diligence, could
f* not be obtained by a pen directed by the
'' hand of any copyist, which cannot be, at
*' all times, equally firm and obedient"

Bullet had the same idea. See Zani, p. 17B.

This extreme regularity in the characters of
many old n»anuscripts has been often observed,
and gives sufficient ground for the opinion,
that some mechanical process was, at least
occiasipnally, r^orted to by the ancient Cali-
grapbists. I think there is reason to believe,
that stensils were often used, by those who
wrote th^ large choral books, coi^taining the
difierent services performed in the Roman

Catholick churches; the snuiller letters in
which are, sometimes, above an inch in
height : but I have not^ hitherto, seen any old
manuscript in which the letters appear to be
itamped m the manner described by Padre
delk VaUe.

As for the celebrated MS. of the four
gospels, by Ulphihs, believed to be of the
fourth or fifth century, and preserved in the
library of Upsal, in Sweden; the characters
of which are said to have been printed in
'gold and silver, on coloured parchment, by
means of iron types heated ; I can only say,
that the account is entu^Iy beyond my com-
prehension. I have not, indeed, read the
learned dissertation which JIf • Ihre, a pro-
fessor of eloquence at Upsal, wrote concern-
ing this book. Fowrfder speaks of it, p. 98.
PapUhmf vol. i. p. 12 and 77. Hmneken
*^ Id£e," p. 248 : and J amen, ** Essai sur la
Gravnre," vol. ii. p. 18 and 162. But whatever
method the old Caligraphists may have
adopted, to procure uniformity in the size
and shape of their letters, it does not, I think,
appear to have had any influence in promot-
ing the Art of Printing, whether from wooden
blocks or vrith moveable types. The copy-
ists of manuscripts, who lived by their pen^
would, as Heinekm observes, haye^ been glad
that Typography had never been invented*

E 2

€€

28 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap, i.

^ very hard to be believed, that he judges it the safest mode to say
^ nothing concerning it/' ♦

Zani views the matter in a very diflferent light. " The long and
^ particular description which Papillon gives of these prints/' says
he» '' is an indubitd[>le proof that he had viewed them/at his conve^
*^ nience, with his own eyes — ^for we cannot suppose, that that
^ professor dreamed such a story, or that he intended to amuse
*' his readers with a romance of his own invention.

I am aware/' he adds, *' that some amateurs will laugh at
Papillon, as well as at myself, for having been so easily induced
^ to believe him, and for thinking to bring forward, as an authentic
monument of the priority of Italy, even in wood engraving, a
work which no writer has hitherto known. It is impossible,
they will say, that there should be only one copy of it in the
^* world; and that this should have escaped the diligence of
" the celebrated Fussli, the compiler of the great dictionary of
" painters, and the countryman of M. Spirchtvel and M. de
" Greder.

" He, however, who should reason in this manner," continues
Zani, " mighty upon the same grounds, deny the loss of many
" manuscripts, and even of printed books, which, according to the
** testimony of credible authors, have become a prey to the flames ;
'^ or have perished during the anarchy of revolutions, or the dis-
♦' tresses occasioned by wars. The learned part of my readers will
not require examples. Nevertheless, let him, who wants such
conviction, search throughout all the libraries of Europe for the

€€

44
44

* '' Storia Pittorica,'' torn. i. p. 74. Bas^ pilloD*8 account. The truth is, that, in the

MHO. 1795-6. It 18 probable, that if Zafizi absence of Uie proofs which Zani some time

bad been informed of the circumstances after publbhed relative to Finiguerra^s disco*

which Zani afterwards discovered, relative to very, he had enough to do'to defend the pre-

the family of Cunio, he would have formed tensions of Italy, even to priority in copper-

a different opinion of the authenticity of Pa- plate engraving.

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

f»

4€

€€

4€

€€

book, entitled ^MeditationesReverendissimi patris domini Johannis
de Turrecremata/ printed at Rome by Ulric Han, in 1467, and be
will be presently informed by the learned librarians, that of that

*• edition there exists but one copy, which is preserved in the library
of Nuremberg.* This book is, therefore, unique. Now let
us suppose, that, by some accident, this book should perish;
could our descendants, on that account, deny that it had ever

** existed ."^
^* And what," continues our writer, " will those, who argue in

** this manner, say, when they read in my large work,^ that so great

^' is the rarity of ancient prints, that, notwithstanding my most
diligent search in the frequent journeys which I have under*
tak«i, I bave not chanced to see two impressions of many en-
gmyings of the fifteenth centuiy, which, nevertheleas, is an age for

^^ less remote than that of Honorius IV.

" For my own part,'' adds Zani, " I confess that I give full be-
lief to the account of Papillon, because I find in it every mark of
truth* It is not a single print that he describes, but a series of
eight pieces, bearing in fi*ont of them a brief dedication, and
accompanied by Latin verses. He shows how those two noble
amateurs must have printed these engravings, by placing the
paper upon the blocks, and passing their hands over it, in lieu
of other modes of pressure. It is possible that, at this moment.

€i

t€

* ^' Uniciun exemplum libri faujos rarisBimi
<< quod hactenus detegi potuit, idque optime

conservatam, umica taoquam Ph(£NIX

eztat in bibliotheca publicaNoriinbeq;eosi."
Panzer, toI. ii. p. 407* n. 6. I have been
informed, however, that the Imperial library
at Vienna, also, possesses a copy of this book.

i* A very extensive work relative to engraving,
for which Zani has been collecting materials
tbeae thirty years. A detailed prospectus of
the undertaking was first printed in 24nio,
at Parmai 1 789y under this title^ '' Prodromo

dl una Enciclopedia metodica delle Belle
Arti spettanti al Disegno ;" and is introduced,
with some variations^ in the latter part of his-
volume, entitled ** Materially" &c.

It is greatly to be wished, that the author
may, at lengthy receive that general support
which may enable him to publish tfie fruits
of his long studies; since, however, like
all other writers, he may have formed some
erroneous judgments, there can be no doubt
that his work will contain a large proportion
of erudite and original matter.

imm -■ I

30 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

'' Lmay. be blinded by. my partiality to my own nation; but, I
f* would almost assert^ tbat to deny the testimony of the French
y writer, would be like denying the existence of light on a fine
" sunshiny day/' ♦ ,

So much for opinions — ^let us now examine the evidence upon
which this story rests.

The witness to the fact is but one. It behoves us, therefore, in the
first place, to inquire if he be a witness worthy of credit; one,
whose word can be taken ; one, who, had he been interested in de-
ceiving us, would, nevertheless, have told the truth.

In all these respects, the character of Papillon stands unimpeached;
and we have seen that Heineken himself, the determined opposer of all
Italian pretensions, bore testimony to the probity of the man, al-
though he condemned his book. In his '^ Idee G^n^rale,'' he had pre-
viously expressed himself to the same purport. Speaking of engisiv-
ing.in.wood in Italy, he there observes, ^^ that he cannot name any
^ artist of that country, who engraved in wood, before Ugo da
Carpi, Dominico Beccafumi, and Baldassar Peruzzi ; painters,
who were nearly contemporaries, and who worked at the begin-
ning of the sixteenth century. What Marolles says of the en-
gravers upon wood in Italy, anterior to these masters,'' continues
he, " is simple conjecture. Florent le Comte has copied his faults,
and Papillon has augmented them more than all tibe rest, in his
treatise upon engraving in wood ; a work, of which the first vo-
lume (for I am not a competent judge, of the . second) is so filled
*' with errors, fables, and trivial matters, that it is not worth the
'^ pains to refute them. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the
" author^ whose character I am well acquainted with, believed
^' all that he wrote, and. erred only firom ignorance. "f Papillon
was, therefore, an honest writer.

" * Zani. '' Materiali per senrire alk storia, '' pendant je anis coDvaincA que Tauteor,

&c. deir Incisione in Rame e m Legno.'' ^* dont je coimois le caractere, a bmX toat

Parma, 1802. 8.vo. pp. 84, 85, 86. . *^ cela de bonne foi, sana en savoir davan-

t " Ukt Gen^nde,^ pp. 150, 151. '* Ce- " tage."

€4
€t
€€
4t

€€
€€
€4

CHAP, i.l THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285. 31

But, although honest in his testimony, would not such a person
as Heineken has described Papillon, be very liable to be deceived?
To this simple question, it seems reasonable to answer. Yes I But
was Papillon really so ignorant, so misinformed on the subject he
treated ofi as Heineken's judgment would lead us to suppose?
Is the German writer's sweeping condemnation of his book to
be admitted as Just, without examination? Was he hiniself a
judge so competent, that from his sentence there should be no
appeal? * •» . .

' It must indeed be admitted, that Papillon's work contains an ample
proportion of error. He wrote at a period when little had been done
towards the investigation of the early history of engraving by other
authors. He copied many of the mistakes of the French writers who
preceded him, and, perhaps, added some of his own. Zealous for
the honour of his art, he was induced, upon very slight evidence,
to insert, amongst the professors of wood engraving, many eminent
designers who, it is probable, never handled a burin. But it is
remarkable, that upon the very occaieion which Heineken selected
to pass so severe a sentence upon Papillon, the latter was right, and
the former wrong. Heineken says, he cannot name any artist ' of
Italy who engraved in wood prior to Ugo da Carpi, Domenico
Beccafumi, and Baldassar Peruzzi. The first of these can hardly
be supposed to have begun to engrave before 1510, and most pro*
bably did not engrave till afler that period. Beccafumi certainly
did not practise engraving till much later in the century ; and as
for the third, the contemporary and countryman of Beccafumi,
there is some reason, at least, to doubt whether he engraved at alL
Now there is no difficulty in pointing out Italian engravings on
wood, "anterior to these masters, some bearing the marks* of the
artists by which they were executed, and others, their names. Of

* Witness the old Italian artist, who en- companied ivith the figure of a bird. He
graved both on ivood and in copper, and will be spoken of in his proper place,
marked his prints with the initials I. B. ac- '

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. i«

the latter description^ Papillon mentions a large wood print, some-
what in the style of Mantegna, and certainly Italian, of a subject
of the Roman history, allegorically represented, and inscribed Opus
Iacobi ; and another large wood engraving, representing the Ma-»
donna, S. Sebastian^ and S. Rock, inscribed Iacobus; whom he
considers, and, probably, with some reason, a different artist from the
foregoing.* Heineken, it is possible, never saw these prints ; or, if he
did, mistook them for the {H*oducti(His of another school. The print
of the " Madonna with the two Saints," if it be, as I think, one that I
have seen (and shall, I hope, have an opportunity of describing here-
after) is decidedly old Italian. The other I am unacquainted with*
I will oiily, therefore, at present obser^^e, that in the British Museum
there is a set of circular prints of subjects from the NewTestament, one
of which bears this inscription, O|m^laco6i. They are indisputably flta^

* PapUlon. Tom. I. p. 140.

f Since writiog the above, I find in
Hebeken's ^tnt Ba(I)ml}ten (a i?ork
pobfislied by hitn fifteen yean after his
<' Id^e G£n£rale) at p. 123, the following
title to a set of 12 large prints of the Tri-
umphs of Julius Caesar : — '* Triumphus Caji
Julii Caesaris, qui quinqvies tritanphavit,
Prmum et excdlentittimum ^U Gallieum.
JSequeniem Alexandrimm. Ddnde Pontic
cunif Proximum Africanum, Novimmum
Hispaniemem. Edidit spectacula varii ge-
neris, a quo deinde Romanofum Principes
Caesares atque Imperatores appellati sunt

— — Manibus prcpriis hoc prae-

darum opus in lucem prodirejedt, Jacobus
Argentoratemis, Germanus, Jrchetypus So-
lertissimus, anno mrginei partus M. D. III.
idibus Februarii sub hemupherio Feneto
Jinem imposuitr

Not having had an opportunity of seeing
the original from which this inscription is

taken, I am unable to satisfy the curiosity of
the reader as to that part of it which Heine-
ken appears to have thought proper to omit.
But I happen to possess in my own collection,
two pieces which I suspect may be a part of
the above Triumphs. They have neither the
name nor mark of the designer or the engraver;
but are very much in the manner of the cir-
cular prints in the British Museum, mentioned
in the text. The style of them, however, is
decidedly Old Italian, as well as respects
their design, as Uie mode in which they are
executed. The artist, therefore, whoever he
was, properly belongs to the Italian school;
notwithstanding he may have been of German
origin, or even a native of Strasbui^; since it
is evident, from his style, that he must have
learned the principles of his art in Italy.
I consequently still feel myself justified in
leaving the passage in the text as I had orq;in-
ally written it ; more especially, as it is not
proved that both the Jacobi were the same

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A.R 1285.

lian^and of the old dry taste of the XVth century. I shall describe
them in a future chapter.

The French writer, therefore, did not merit the unqualified
censure with which Heineken treated him. The materials of his
work may be ill arranged, and his book badly written ; but he does
not appear in the light of a person wholly incapable of judging of
the merits, or of the school, or of the antiquity, of any work of wood
engraving which might come under his cognizance. Papillon,
indeed, from his infancy ♦ had begun to collect materials for illus-
trating the history of his favorite art, of which, as is well knovm,
he became a professor of some eminence ; having been instructed
in it by his father, who was also an engraver on wood. This prac-
tical experience, combined with research, could not but give him
great > advantages, and render him the less liable to be deceived
in his decisions.

His remarks, indeed/ although it is still to be regretted that he was
not more particular in his description of the compositions of these
prints, and the number and situations of the figures in each, and
that he did not give us the inscriptions upon them in their original
language, are those of a man well accustomed to examine ancient
prints. The blocks, he says, appeared to have been printed by
means of the pressure or friction of the hand, with a light tint of
indigo, in distemper : he describes the impressions to be granulous,
if I may be allowed the term, in some places ; as if the paper had

penoo; and, as Hemeken's expression is,
'^ Ce que Marolles dit des greveurs sur bois
BN Italie, avant ces maitres, n'est qu'une
conjecture,'' &c. In bis '' jftene jgacf^ncl)-
ten,'' indeed, p. 151, he observes, that the
Italian wood engravers of the XVth century
more frequently inscribed their works with
names than diose of Germany; and, upon this
occanon, he most unaccountably' speaks of
Nicolo Vicentino, (whom he considers the

same with BoldrinuSj) Dom» Becerfumi,
Baldassare Peruzzi, Ugo da Carpi, and
Antonio da Trento, as being, all of them.
Artists of the XVth century, instead of the
Xyith« Might not Papillon, had he read
the passage, have retorted upon the German
writer, by applying what he had said of Le
Fevre : ** Qu'il etoit devenu aUeni d^esprit f
* Papillon, tom. i. p. 374.

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. I,

been applied to the engraved block wiUiout being first damped.
Now it is well known, that matly of the very early wood prints
were printed without any mixture of oil in the colour used for
the purpose; and there is good reason, likewise, to believe, that
the paper was often applied in its dry^ state. The observations
pf Papillon are, therefore, not only evidence that he saw and
examined these prints with great attention, but that his eye 'was
habituated to very nice discrimination, touching all those particulars
which, perhaps more than any others that could be named, are guides
to enable us to judge of the antiquity of wood engravings. He was
consequently a competent witness.

The probity of Papillon's character se^ns to preclude the idea
that, in his account of the two Cunio, he had any intention to deceive.
Nevertheless, had these two ancient amateurs been of French
extraction, some motive at least for a forgery might have been
assigned; as it is, there appears none. But, putting France out
of the question, he shews no desire to exalt the pretensions of Italy
at the expense of Germany ; for of the two ancient books of wood
cuts which he saw at the same time with that of " the Actions of
Alexander,*' one is described to be German ;f and, indeed, in another
part of his book, he awards to Germany the honor of having first
practised the art of engraving in chiaro-scuro ; X although Italy, on

* The shining appearance of the backs of
those old wood engravings which were taken
off by friction^ is, I think, a strong evidence
that the paper was commonly used dry. Wet
paper could hardly have supported the violence
of the friction which appears to have been
applied, and would not, I think, have been
capable of receiving such a polisb. Besides,
the impressions being taken off with distem-
per, or water colour, this colour, if the paper
had been used damp, would have run, and
prevented the desired neatness and precision
in the impression.

f It may not be irrelevant to observe, that
Heineken bears testimony to the existence of
the other two books of old wood engravutgs
which Papillon saw at the house of De Gre-
der, in company with that of ** the Actions of
Alexander.''

j: The mode practised by Ugo da Carpi
and others, by which the effect of chiaro-
scuro drawings is produced by means of two,
three, or more blocks of wood, printed with,
different tints, one after the other, upon the
same paper.

CHAP, ij THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. liBi. 56

the authority of Vasari^ had long laid claim to that invention. The
story^ moreover^ is given by him as an insulated fact : it makes no
part of a favorite system ; nor is any hypothesis founded upon it He,
therefore, certainly wrote, as Heineken expresses it, de bonne fci.

There is, I think, no ground for the suspicion that M. de. Greder,
the Swiss officer, prepared this book for the purpose of decehring
the young French artist ; nor is it likely, considering the nature of
Pa[Mllon's studies, that such a trick could have been practised upon
him. It was by accident that de Greder, one afternoon, found the
young man looking into one of his books ; upon which he took
occasion to shew him some very ancient ones, lent to him by his
friend Mr. Spirchtvel; and they got into conversation upon the
antiquity of engraving in wood.

Here is no appearance of premeditation or design on the part of
de Greder : the occurrence was evidently unexpected.

It was then that Papillon first saw the book containing the
Actions of Alexander. I say that he first saw it, because if, as he
tells us, he wrote the long manuscript account of the Cunio family,
as translated and dictated to him by M. de Greder, it could hardly
have been finished in the remainder of that afternoon. The in^
scription upon the title-page, however, and the short memorandum
written on the same leaf, no doubt immediately called his atten-
tion. Nor can it be earily supposed that Papillon's scholarship
was insufficient to enable him to make out, at least, the proper
names of Alexander, Pope Honorius IV. and the two Cunio ; even
without the assistance of De Greder who, it seems most probable,
immediately gratified him by translating the contents of ** the
printed dedication ;" and afterwards (although, as he says, with
difficulty) '* the short written memorandum'* respecting the neces-
sity of hollowing out the blocks deeper in those places where the
paper was intended to be white in the impression.

Now if no fraud was practised by Papillon upon the public, nor by
M. de Greder upon Papillon, nor by M. Spirchtvel upon his friend
De Greder, and no motive for such fraud can be assigned, it must

F 2

36 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

theil be acknowledged .that the whole story is fiupported by a chain
of evidence not easily to be broken ; for the book came to Spirchtvel
through his mother, who was the direct descendant of Jan Jacq.
Turine, the. person to whom the Count di Cunio, the fether of the
twins, presented it, some years after their death.

But the supposition that the whole could have been a forgery,
is still more satisfectorily refuted by the circumstances recorded
in the dedication of the work to Pope Honorius IV., and the sub-
sequent history of the two Cunio, the authors of it, in ancient
manuscript; the very length of which renders it impossible to be
believjed that it was forged, as Heineken would have us suppose,
for the purpose of giving a spurious attestation of the antiquity of
the engravings; since a few lines would have answered the same
purpose, and have furnished less means of detecting the deceit in
future.

Heineken, as we have seen, thought he had discovered internal
evidence of forgery, both in the printed dedication and in the manu-
script history ; and urged in proof of it, in his conversation with
Papillon, that Count Alberico Cunio lived in the time of Pope
Urban VI. and Martin V., and not in that of Honorius IV. But he
was mistaken ; since a Count Alberico Cunio is expressly mentioned
in the History of Faenza, under the year 1285 — ^the same in which
Honorius was made Pope ; and indeed the name of Alberico appears
to have been a favorite Christian name in the family.

The name of Cunio was not likely to have occurred to the Swiss
officers, ,or any one else, meditating a forgery like that alleged;
since, although noble, and of high antiquity, it was not of sufficient
note to find a place in general history, and is not once mentioned in
the, extensive work of *' the Annals of Italy," by Muratori.

In the. dedication of tiie engravings in question, we have seen the
name of Alessandro Alberico Cunio coupled with Ravenna ; and,
in the . manuscript history, the Count, di Cunio, the father of the
twins, is described as being afterwards magistrate of Imola. Now
both these cities are in the vicinity of Faenza, where the family, or

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

a branch of it, is spoken of by writers of undoubted credit in the
Xllth, the Xlllth, and the XlVth centuries.* These circumstances,
therefore, far from furnishing any just motive of additional doubt,

* The indefatigable Zani, whose opioioa
on the sabject has been akeady noticed, after
having given the French writer's account of
the two Cunio, proceeds as follows : —
(Materiali, &c. p. 233.)

'' Behold^" says he, '^ that which Papillon
'^ has left us respecting the twins of the
" family of Cunio. Let the learned seri-
" ously connder the subject, that it may be
** determined whether this account is deserv-
'' ing of being classed amongst the fabulous
** narrations of a writer of romance ; or whe-
** ther it merits belief, and is worthy of the
" most scrupulous examination.

** In the mean time I will present them
*' with certain notices that I have happened
'' to find in two other writers, respecting the
''family of Cunio. Biondo Flavio ' {HiB'
** tome ab inclinatione Romanorum Imperii

'' decades tres Venetiis, 1483) men-

'' tions this family in several places, sayii^, at
'' fol. S5\ that ' multas habmt belli Duces f
'' and he affirms that in 1380 he knew the
'' famous Captain, Count Alberico Ctmio,
^* who was still living m 1401.

** Giulio Cesare Tonduzzi, in his Historie
'' di Fcenza, printed in 1675, makes mention
'' at p. 19I9 under the year 1149^ of the
'' Count Guido Cunio; and, at p. S£2, he
'' relates that Onorius IV. of the family 5a-
'' villi was elected Pope on the 2d of April
'' in year 1£85, in which year there happened

'^ a memorable a£fair at Faenza between the
'' two families of the House of Manfredi.

'' The circumstances of this affidr were as
" follow : — ^The Frate Alberico, Cav. Gaur
'' detUe,* having received a blow on the fiice
'' from Manfredo, of the same fiunily, pre^
'' tended to be reconciled towards him, and
*^ afkerwards invited him one day to dinner, in
** cpmpany with Alberghetto, his son. The
'^ dinner being ended, the revengeful Alberico
^* called out : ' let the fruit come;' upon which
'' signal, his two sons, Francesco and Ugolino,
** rushed forth ; and, with the assistance of cer-
'' tain domesticks, killed the two guests with
** thdr diners. In conseqttence of which
<' affair, the enmity which had subsisted
** between the murderers and the Count
** Alberico Cunio, son of the Count
*^ Bernardino di Cunio, in regard of
'' Beatrice his wife, who was the daughter,
'^ and the sister of the two Manfredi who
'' were killed, was renewed with increased
" acrimony.

** The same writer,'' adds Zani, ** relates,
''at p. 441, that the family of Cunio re-
'' moved in the course of time from Romagna
** to Lombardy; and that, when he wrote, it
'' flourished, as it still continues to do, in
'' Milan; ranking amongst the most noble fa-
'' milies of that city, and known by the appella-
'' tion of the Conti di Belgoioso. At p. 473,
'' under the year 1419, he speaks of the Count

* An order of knighthood tlien used in Italy, not
very nnlike that of the Knights Templars. BettimUi
calls it the Order of Fralt GomlmH, <« Risorgimento

<< dltalla dopo il MiUe.'* ton. u. p. 335, 8vo; Jffa*-
soao, 1736.

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. r.

form together, such a phalanx of corroborative evidence in support
of the story, as, in my opinion, those who would impeach the truth
of Papillon's statement, can never break through.

The objections, on the other hand, which oppose themselves to
our belief of the story, are, it must be allowed, sufficiently formidable
in their appearance ; but they are not conclusive or unanswerable.
They are chiefly as follow :

FiBST. — ^The relation of Papillon, it may be said, goes to establish
the practice of engraving in wood, and of taking impressions from
engraved blocks of wood in Italy, as early as the thirteenth cen-
tury ; whereas no satisfactory ground for the belief that such a prac-
tice prevailed in Eurc^e, even so early as the fourteenth century,
had hitherto been produced ; and it is scarcely to be credited that
such an art should have been known in Europe at so early a period

'' Alberico Cunio the younger; and, at foL
^ xlix. he places in the list of the Podesta,
'' the Cmmds, and the Governors (rf Faenxa
'* for the year 13 15, a Count Bernardino
<' Cunio.

** In the notices which I have here col-
'' lected,** continues Zani, '' there is nothing,
'^ it is true, respecting the two twins of the
** family of Cunio ; nevertheless, we may,
'' I think, conjecture from these documents,
'^ that that Count Alberico^ who, in regard of
'^ his wife Beatrice^ was desirous to avenge
** the death of his father-in-law and his bro-
'' ther-in-law, might have been the Adher of
'' the amiable twins Aleuandro Alberico and
'' Isabella.

** Tonduzzi asserts, that, in the same year
'< in which Honorius IV. was elected Pope,
'' the enmity between the murderers and the
'^ Count Alberico Cunio was renewed ; and
'' Papillon has told us, that the troubles of
" Italy occasioned the Count Cunio to take

'^ up arms ; and that the two twins dedicated
" their work to Honorius IV. We read in
'^ the Italian writer, that Beatrice, the wife
" of Count Alberico, was of the House of
'' Manfredi; that is, one of the first families
'' of Faenza ; and we learn from the French
<' author, that the father of the Count Cunio
^ obliged his son to divorce the Veronese
^* lady, whom he had clandestinely married,
'' and to take for his consort one of a higher
<< class of nobility. It is not improbable that
'' this was Beatrice.

*^ Let not the lovers of art in Imola,
'^ Faenza, and Ravenna^* adds Zani, *^ omit
'' to consider and compare that which has
'^ been written by the two authors whom
^ I have cited ; and let them use their most
^ strenuous endeavours to establish a point so
^* conducive to the glory of their country, by
'' illustrating the history of the two twins of
'' the family of Cunio, and placing so interest-
'^ ing a discovery in a clear Ught.^'

CHAP. I.] THE TWO CUNIO, A.D. 1286. 30

as the thirteenth century, and that for more than a century after*
wards we should find no trace of its use.

It was doubtless a strong feeling of this objection which occa*
sioned Heineken, in his " Neue Nachrichten," p. 109, to suggest the
opinion, that the book of " the Actions of Alexander'' might have
been engraved by some Italian artist of the XVth century, from
a manuscript, ornamented with designs, which had been written, and
dedicated to Pope Honorius, two centuries before. But the diffi^
culties which stand in the way of such a conclusion are even greater
than those which it was intended to remove.

A work of this subject was very unlikely to have been dedicated
to the Head of the Church in those early times ; except, as is stated
in the dedication, in testimony of affection from the youthful twins,
his relatives ; who might, not unreasonably, be supposed to have
selected for their theme, the prowess of the Macedonian Chief, ai
the first name of one of them was Alexander, and as he had embraced
the profession of a soldier.

But it is surely extremely improbable that, in the XVth century,
when the arts of design in Italy had advanced many steps towards
their perfection, and where better originals were, in consequence, easy
to be procured, an engraver of that country should have thought of
copying a series of designs of the Xlllth century ; and thcU series,
not representing any sacred legend, to which the antiquity of the
original might have been supposed to give weight and authority,
but a fanciful delineation of the actions of Alexander the Great

Still more improbable it is, that the engraver of such a work (suppos-
ing the manuscript to have been originally dedicated to Pope Hono-
rius IV. by the two Cunio, or by any body else) should have preserved
a dedication made to a person who had been dead two hundred
years before : and even then it will be necessary, before Heineken's
conjecture can be supported, to insist that the printed dedication
was ignorantly, or intentionally, mistranslated by De Greder — ^that
Papillon could not even read the proper names engraved on
the dedication, and on the eight pieces which followed it-i-and that

40 PAPILLON S ACCOUNT QF [chap. i.

the whole of the .manuscript history, which it has been shewn bears
every mark of authenticity, was an impudent forgery, executed
with great labour and research (for the author of it, as we have
seen, was better acquainted with the history of the Cunio family
than Heineken) to serve no earthly purpose whatever, except that
of practising a silly, and temporary deception, upon a young artist.
For, if it was a forgery, De Greder died without any further enjoy-
ment of his joke ; as poor Papillon mislaid his papers, and his
book did not make its appearance until thirty-five years after-
wards !

Besides, the objections to *' a Block-book,*' printed in the XVth
century in Italy (and . the union of text with the figures certainly
entitles the work in question to that appellation) are nearly as great
as to a similar book supposed to be of the Xlllth century ; since
no other work of the kind, executed in Italy, whether of the Xlllth,
XlVth, or XVth century, is on record.

Leaving aside, therefore, the untenable hypothesis of Heineken,
I would observe, in answer to the Jirst objection, that we cannot
safely argue, from the silence of contemporaneous authorities, that
the art of engraving in wood was not practised in Europe in those
early times ; however such silence may be an argument that it was
not an art in high repute. Nor is our ignorance of such records
a sufficient proof of their non-existence. As an illustration of the
truth of this remark, it ^vill be enough to observe, that, were it not
for the accidental discovery, made towards the end of the last cen-
tury, of a decree of the magistracy of Venice, particularly relating
to engraving in wood, and bearing date 1441, we might to this day
have been without any positive proof that that art was practised in
Italy previous to 1467; in which year the -first book* printed there
with wood-cuts made its appearance. Now the decree in question,
which I shall presently produce, carries the art back at least to the
beginning of the century ; and gives, I think, good reason for us to

f The Medita^ona of I. de Tiirrecremafa before mentioned : see p. 29.

CHAP, i:] THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285 41

4iuppose, that it was practised by the Venetians long previous to
that epoch.

It may be added, that the art of engraving in wood is never spoken
of by old historians as a new discaoery, or as a new art ; and that, for
aught we know, it might have been commonly applied to the
purpose of iumishing devotional cuts of siaints, and other objects of
superstition, to the common people, throughout Christendom, for
a very considerable time previous to its use in the manufacture of
playing cards ; a purpose, to which, nevertheless, there seems some
reason to believe that it was applied early in the XlVth century.
Nor is it any proof, or strong argument against the antiquity of such
a practice, that authentic specimens of wood engraving of those
early times are not now to be found. They were, it may be
supposed, for the most part, detached pieces ; whose merits, as works
of art, were not such as to render their preservation at all probable.
They were the toys of the day ; and, after having served the tempo-
rary purpose for which they were manufactured, were, no doubt,
swept away to make room for others of newer fashion ; especially
in Italy, where the advancement of the arts of design was far
more rapid than in any other country ; and where taste soon became
refined.

Indeed, the Italian artists, who lived in times when art /was
approaching towards perfection, or had attained its zenith, despised
the rude productions of earlier centuries ; and there is reason to
believe that the chief cause of the extreme rarity of most of the
Italian engravings on copper, of the XVth century, was the little
respect with which those first essays of the art were treated by such
as lived to admire the more perfect productions of Marc' Antonio.

Vasari even, when speaking of the engravings of Andrea Man-
tegna — ^which, though in a dry style, are admirable in their way —
thus expresses himself: *' e ne fu allora tenuto conto, perche non
^* si era veduto meglio/' — " And they were then held in estimation,"
(or taken care of) *' because people had not yet seen better." Bal-
dinucci, in like manner, in his life of Sandro Botticelli, informs us,

€€

42 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

that " that artist engraved many plates from his own designs^ which,
in the course of time, were, for the most part, destroyed, or sup-
pressed, in consequence of the great improvement which took
place in the art of engraving after his time/' And yet Mantegna
and Botticelli were hoth, in their day, masters of high reputation.
It can, therefore, be no matter of wonder if the Italians omitted
to preserve the rude works of their early engravers in wood, with
the same care as appears to have been bestowed by the less polished
Germans, in the XVth century, upon the barbarous productions of
their school, by pasting them into the covers of their manuscripts.
Some few specimens of early Italian wood engraving, however,
happily still exist, as will be presently shewn; and others, it is
probable, may be hereafter discovered.

The next, and second objection, that the book, which Papillon
has described, is not to be found, and that nobody has seen another
copy of it, has been already answered by Zani. As a further answer
to diat objection, it may not be irrelevant to remind the reader,
that the two Cunio appear only to have taken off a very Umted
number of impressions from their engravings, as presents to their
near friends and relations ; whereas, of " the Meditations of I. de
•* Turrecremata,'* and, indeed, of some other printed books, of which
not ^?oen one copy^ is now knotsm, there is every reason to suppose that
a considerable impression was published.

The youth of the two noble amateurs, by whom these prints are
said to have been executed, may be urged as a third objection
to the truth of the story. The whole, it may be said, borders on
romance.

In answer to this objection, I must observe, that, taken in one point

* The DoNATus, for example, printed vol. i. p. 160. The list of printed books, of

by SwEYNHEYMandPANNARTZ, in 1464, 'which only one copy is known, might prO'*

(as is supposed) and of which 300 copies bably be augmented ; and others might per*

were published. *^ Not a single copy of this haps be mentioned, of which fragments only

** work is known, or has been described." So have been discovered^
says Mr. Dibdin : Bibliotheca Spenceriana,

CHAP. I.}

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

of view, it is a strong evidence that Papillon's narrative is no forgery.
That he, or the Swiss officers, supposing the prints to have been
forged by either of them, with the intent to deceive, should, in-
stead of looking out for the name of some ancient artist to whom to
ascribe them, have pitched upon the names of Alessandro Alberico
and Isabella Cunio — ^two persons of noble family residing ait Ra*
venna — (and those so young, that that circumstance alone was cal-
culated to give an air of improbability to the tale which it was
intended should be believed) is not within the range of credibility*
This apparent objection, therefore, to the truth of the story, becomes,
upon due consideration, a powerful argument in its favour.

Not that the record itself can be shaken upon the ground that
such an account of early talents is incredible. Several of the finest
and most finished engravings of Lucas Van Leyden were executed
before he had completed his fifl:eenth year ; ♦ and the history of the
arts furnishes many examples of early powers little less surprising.

A FOURTH objection, founded upon the alleged merit of some
of these prints of the Actions of Alexander, I must own, struck me,
upon my first perusal of Papillon's narrative, with much greater
force than any of the above ; and especially the resemblance which
that writer discovered between one of them and a picture of Le
Brun representing the same subject In answer to this I would
observe, that it is no easy matter, in treating of works of art, to
find terms by which the exact share of merit possessed by any
individual performance is to be expressed. We are naturally
inclined to be liberal in our praises of that which, however defective.

* All writers agree, dial Lucas mh JL^-
den was bora at the end of May, or the
begianiiig of Jane, 1494, and that he died in
1553. His << Conversion of St. Paul,'' one of
his laigest and most esteemed prints, is dated
1500 ; but a great number of his engravings
are supposed to have been executed before
that period. His print of <^ Sergius, killed by

Mahome^** as it is called, is dated 1 508. He
is said to have astonished the artists of the
time by a picture of S. Hubert, painted when
he was only twelve years of age. The very
number of his works, considering their high
finish, and the shortness of his life, is, of itself,
little short of miraculous*

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. t.

is better than we could have expected from the artist, or frcmi the
period in which he lived ; and it is well known that even Vasari,
a much greater artist, and incomparably a better writer than
Papillon, was obliged, at the close of his voluminous work, to
apologize for this his bias on the side of mercy.* The resemblance
which Papillon discovered, or thought he discovered, between one
of these prints and a picture of Le Brun, may be accounted for itt
one, who, like him, was accustomed to venerate that which he knew
to be ancient, by the supposition of some accidental, although pro*
bably only partial, similitude in the situations or attitudes of some
of the principal figures. As to his eulogiums, it may be sufficient
to observe that he was better fitted to judge of the mechanism of
the art he practised, than qualified to estimate the merits of an
extensive historical composition in painting ; and, moreover, that,
when he wrote this account, he was a very young -man.

Thus much for Papillon's interesting narrative respecting the
two Cunio : a document — for so, I think, I may now term it — ^firom
which we leam» that engraving in wood was practised as early as
the THIRTEENTH CENTURY, in those parts of Italy, at least, which
border upon the Gulf of Venice. The examination of this document
has necessarily occupied many pages. The importance of the fact
to be ascertained will, however, it is trusted, be admitted in extenu-
ation of the writer.

* VAuiore a gli Artefici del Disegno, in-
serted, after FtuarfB own Ufe, at the end of
the hst volume. Edizione di Bologna, 1648.
'* To those to whom it should appear," says
he, *' that I have praised certain masters,
'^ whether aidcient or modern, beyond Ibekr
** deserts ; and who, upon comparing such
** ancient artist^ with those of our own ^une,
<' should feel disposed to laugh ; 1 can only
" answer, that I have judged it proper to
** bestow praise not merely in proportion to
*' the simple merit of the work I speak of^

** but also with a reference to the time and
** place in which it was executed, or other
" particular circumstances attending it, tic.^
^* Besides," adds Vasari, *^ one cannot always
** hold the bahiice of the goldsmith m one's
<^ hand ; and those who have experienced the
^^ difficulties of writing, especially when com*
'^ parisons are to be made, which are always
<< odious, and when it is necessary to pass
*^ judgment, will readily be induced to excuse
« me, 8u:/'

CHAP, h]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1286.

4«

The distance between this epoch of wood engravings and the
next of which we have any record, is, indeed, formidable. Time
may, perhaps, restore those links of the chain which are at present
wanting. *

* I am mucb inclined to consider the well-
known entiy in a register <^ accounts of the
French court, about 1392, relanve to the cards
made by Jacquemin Gringonneur for Charles
TI., as a document proving die use of wood
eograiing at that time; and, indeed, froBi the
manner in which cards are qpoken of in a

French romance ^ittfA^ in 1341, I think
we Yotty reaaoaably conjectore that tkejr irara
manufactured from engraved wooden blocks,
in France, even in the early part of the four-
teenth century. Both these documents, toge-
dier with my reasons for Ae above o[nnion,
wnH appear in die iieit dbanter*

4«

THE DECREE OF THE

[chap. n.

CHAPTER H-

The jyecree of the Government of Venice, 1441 — Specimens of Old Fe-'
netian Wood Engraving described — Supposition that the Venetians
obtained this Art from the Chinese, at a very early period — and that
ether European NtUions discovered the Secret in the course of their
Traffick with Venice — the Art, perhaps, improved in Gemumy —
Silence of old writers, zsdth respect to Wood Engraving, accounted
yor — No evidence that it was invented in Europe — Opinion of those,
who ascribe its Origin to the Invention of Playing Cards, unsup^
ported by Evidence — Remarks on the early Use of Playing Cards —
Early Wood Engravings of Germany, and the Low Countriesrr^Spe-^
dmens described — St. Bridget — A Print preserved at Lyons, dated
1384 — doubtful — St. Christopher, 1423, the earliest Print with a
Date, of which there is no doubt — Its Companion, the Annunda-
tion : Reasons for suspecting these two Prints to be Italian. Other
ancient Wood Engravings, mth Dates, ^.

1 HE next written document that I find, in which positive men-
tion is made of wood engraving, is a Decree of the Government
of Venice ; which Temanza,* an architect of that city, had the good

* I know not upon what authority Lanzi,
torn. i. p. 75. asserts that we owe the discovery
of this document to Zanetti; since it ap-
pears to have been first noticed by Temanza,
and published in a letter, addressed by him
to the Count Aloabotti, inserted in
the Lettere Piitariche, torn. v. pag. 320.
Indeed Temanza expressly telk Algarotti
(p. 32,9) that this discoveiy is the firat fruit
of the labour which he had bestowed in read«

ing great part of the ancient laws of the old
company of Venetian painters, from which he
had made .a selection then in his possession.
It is worthy of remark, that he produces this
decree as a proof diat engraving was practised
in Venice before the time of Finiguerra ; mak-
ing no distinction between the art of wood
ei^raving, and that of engraving in copper.
'' Cote tutte," says he, ** assav anteriori di
^* tempo alpredetto Maso (Fikiguerba).''

CHAP. II.]

GOVERNMENT OF VENICE, 1441.

4€

€t

€€

fortune to discover amongst the archives of the old company of
Venetian painters. It has already been briefly noticed, and is as
follows :

" M CCCC XLI. October the 11th. Whereas the art and mys-
'< tery of making cards and printed figures, which is i^d at
'' Venice, has fallen to total decay; and this in consequence of
" the great quantity of playing cards, and coloured figures printed^
*' which are made out of Venice ; to which evil it is necessary
to apply some remedy ; in order that the said artists, who are a
great many in family, may find encouragement^ rather than
foreigners. Let it be ordered and established, according to that
*' which the said masters have supplicated, that, from this time
*^ in future^ no work of the said art, that is printed or painted on
cloth, or on paper, that is to say altar pieces (or images ^) and
playing cards, and whatever other work of the said art is done
with a brush and printed, shall be allowed to be brought or im-
ported into this city, under pain of forfeiting the works so
imported, and xxx. livres and xii. soldi ; (pag. 6) of which
fine, one third shall go to the state, one third to the Signori
'* Giustizieri Vecchi, to whom the affair is committed, and one
" third to the accuser. VTith this condition, however, that the
** artists, who make the said works in this city, may not expose
" the said works to sale in any other place but their own shops,
^ under the pain aforesaid, except on the day of Wednesday
'* at S. Paolo, and on Saturday at S. Marco, under the pain
*' aforesaid."

* .Antona (an altarpiece), probably a cor«
roption of eikon* icon, an linage. It may ap-
pear to admit of a doubt, whether the in*
troduction of foreign piciures as well aa
prints, was not intended to be prohibited by
this decree. I, however, think not

Cloth was seldom used for painting upon
'till the sixteenth century : 1 say seldom, be^
cause I have seen a small number of Italian

pictures of the fifteenth century which were
painted on cloth ; but none so early as 1440.

It is not improbable, that some of the co*
loured w(>od prints above alluded to were of
a large size^ and, perhaps, printed on several
sheets of paper ; and that, in consequence, it
became necessary that 'they should be pasted
on canvasses, before they were coloured, and
hung up as furniture.

THE DEGREE OF THE

[chap. II.

Then follows the subscription of the Proveditori del Comune, and
that of the Signori Giustizieri Vecchi. ♦

The Italian f writers argue, and I think fairly, that this decree is
of itself good evidence of wood engraving having been prac-
tised at Venice, at least as early as the commencement of the fif-
teenth century. The time that must have elapsed, say they, from
the first introduction of wood engraving into Venice, to its full esta-
blishment— when it furnished, perhaps, an article of beneficial
commerce, and certainly afforded the means of subsistence to a
very numerous body of artisans who practised it — cannot be com-
puted at less than twenty or thirty years ; nor can a shorter period
be supposed to have elapsed from that epoch till the year 1441 ;
when it is described to have fallen, as if gradually, into little less
than a total decay.

* Nella vecchia matriccola di qaesti nostri
pittori, (** Ella sa," says Temanzi, writiog to
die Count Algarotti, <' che qui s* appella ma-
tiicola il libro delle leggi di catiuia delle arti^)
al capo xxxiii. si legge : mccccxli. adi. xi.
Otubrio. Consdosia che Farte, S^ mestter,
delie eartef e figure stampide, che $efano in
Fene$ia i vegnudo a total deff action, equesto
iia per la gran fuatUitd de carte da %vgar,
efegure depente stampide, le qual men fate
defuora de Venezia, ala qual com i da me-
ter remedioj che i diti maestri, i quali sono
assaii infamga, habiano piit presto utiUtade,
che i forestieri. Sia ordenado, e statuido,
come anchora i diti maestri ne ha iupplieado,
che da mo in avanti non potsa vegnir ooer
esser condutto in questa Terra alcun lavorerio
dda predicta arte, che sia stampido, o de^
pento in tella, o in carta, come sono an^
chone e carte da zugare, e cadaun altro la^
torerio dela so arte facto a penello, e stam^
pido, soto pefia di perdere i lavori condutti,
e liv. XXX. e sol, xH. pag. 6. dela qualpena

pecuniaria un terzo sia del Comun, un terzo
di signori justitieri vechi, ai quali questo sia
comesso, e un terzo sia del accusador. Cum
questa tamen condition, che i maestri, i quali
fanno deipredetti lavori in questa Terra,
nonpossano vender ipredetti suo lavori fuor
delle sue botege sotto la pena preditta, salvo
che de merchore a S* Polo, e da sabado a S.
Marco sotto la penna predetta.

Nel millesimo, e zorno soprascrittofo eon-

fermado lordene soprascritto per i specta-

bili, et generosi homini mis. Nicold Bondi"

mero, mis. Jeronimo Qiuerini, e mis. Andrea

Barbarigo honorandiprovedadori de Comun.

Et per i spectabili signori justixieri vechi
mis. Jeronimo Contarini, e mis. Nadal Jtf<t-
Upiero, el terze absente, mandando, e coman^-
dando, che de cetero la sia observada in tutto,
e per tutto/*

t " Lettere Pittoriche.'' torn. v. p. 321.
Lanzi '' Storia Pittorica'' torn. i. p. 75. —
Bassano. 1795^. Zani *^ Materiali," &c.
^76.

CHAP. II.]

GOVERNMENT OF VENICE, 1441.

4d>

■

Temanza, indeed, possessed '* certain fragments of wood prints,
•^ rudely engraved, and representing different parts of Venice in its
*' ancient state •/' which, from his knowledge of the various local
alterations that had taken place in the city since that pCTiod,
could not, he judged,* be of a later ^ate than the commence-
ment of the century.

' Lanzi ascribes to the same epoch, ^' certain ancient playing
^ cards, which the Count Giacomo Durazzo, formerly the Im-
perial Ambassador at Venice, possessed in his very rich cabinet
of prints, now passed into the collection -f- of his nephew, the
Marquis Girolamo, They are,*' says Lanzi, '^ of a much larger
size than those used at present, and very thick, like the cotton
paper found in ancient manuscripts. The figures are represented
upon a gold ground, and are three kings, two queens, and two
pages (fanti), one of them on horseback : each card is marked
hastone, spada or denajo. \ The style of design a good deal re^
^' sembles that of Jacobello del Fiore; the work has been deemed
printed by the best judges; the colours appear to have been laid
on with a stensiL § I am unacquainted,' ' adds Lanzi, '* with a
*' more ancient monument of the kind."

The edict in question is, I think, ample proof that wood en-
graving was known in Venice, at least, as early as 1400. But this

€€

Jt€

€4

* Lett. Pitt. torn. v. p. 322.

•(-This magnificent collection of ancient
prints, is, I believe, still m the possession of
the same family at Genoa. I shall have future
occasion to notice the rarities it contains.

% Sono ire Regi; e in oltre due donne,
duefanti, uno a cavallo; e ha ciascuno o
hastone, o spada, o denajo^* ^' Storia I^tto-
rica," torn. i. p. 76.

§ A Uun plate of tin, or otfier metal, cut
into holes of various shapes and dimensions,
as required; by means of which the ancient
coloorers of cards viere enabled to colour any

particular part of their cards, with a large
brush, without soiling the remainder. Each
figure, of coursci required as many stensils
as colours. This simple machine was for-
merly much used in the manufacture of paper*
haiq;ings for rooms. That it was anciendy
resorted to in colouring wood engravings, ge-
nerally, is 1 think less certain. The expense
and trouble required in preparing the neces-
sary stensik, it is probable, prevented that
mode of colouring from being adopted, except
when great numbers of the same print were ro-
• quired toJi>e tinted ; as was the case vrith cards.

5a ART OF WOOD ENGRAVING AT VENICE, [chap. ii.

is not all. It speaks of the art of making cards, and printed figures,
in terms which would have been every way appropriate, had the
edict had for its object the re-establishment of the oldest manu*
facture of Venice; and, when coupled with other circumstances,
especially the account of the two Cunio, furnishes a strong ground
for the conjecture, that engraving in wood had, from a very early
period, been practised by th6 Venetians, who may easily be sup-
posed to have learnt it in the course of their commerce with the
Chinese, and that through their means it became at length promuU
gated in various parts of Europe. *

• Palmer, in his History of Printingf
p. 5, siiggeBto odier means by which we may
have got thb art from the Chinese. Speak-
ing of Block-Printing, he says ; '^ it is even
<< demonstrable, from authentick testimonies,
^' to have been practised in China and Japan
*^ above four centuries before it was known
** in Europe : it is not easy, I grant, to prove
'' that we received it from them, because of
^' their vast distance, and the little commerce
'^ between us, before the year 1440: yet there
'' is no impossibility, but that it might have
** been brought us by some merchant, either
<< by thewayof iUtiscoty or the Red Sea, the
" Persian Gulph, or Arabia, of which opi-
^' \iion/' adds he, '^ I could mentioti many
" authors/'

Various modes, indeed, may be pointed
out by wluch this art might have got to us
from China or Tartary. We might have re-
ceived it from the Arabs, who, at a very re-
mote period, are known to have had inter-
course with the Chinese. Indeed, the travels
of two Arabs, who visited that country as
early as the ninth century, are ip print, trans-
lated into the French language by the learned
Eusebe Renaudot (Paris, 1718. 8vo). It is
true the writer says nothing of engraving in

wood; but he informs us, p. 28, '^ that aU
^^ the Chinese, rich and poor, learned to read
'' and to write,'' which is some evidence that
printing must then have been common in
China ; for the expense of manuscripts must,
at all times and in all places, have been be-
yond the means of the poorer classes of the
community; and men seldom learn an art
which they can have little opportunity of
practising.

But now that I have mentioned this an-
cient narrative, I cannot refrain citing from
it the account of a custom, which the writer
informs us then prevailed in India or in China,
(for he seems to have spoken of those coun-
tries without sufficient distinction) : not that
it has any reference to the art of engraving ;
but because, as far as it goes, it is evidence
of a very early, though perhaps unobserved,
intercourse between the inhabitants of the
most remote parts of Asia, and those of Eu-
rope ; or ebe of some more ancient connex-
ion between the barbarous nations, who de-
luged Europe during the early centuries of
the Christian sera, and the southern parts of
Asia.

*^ Dans les Indes," says the Arabian writer,
(p. 37, 38) '^ lors qu'un homme accuse iin

CHAP. II.] PROBABLY DERIVED FROM CHINA.

Let us briefly examine the arguments by which such an hypo*
thesis may be supported ; taking as the basis of the discussion, first,
the known antiquity of this art in China ; and, secondly, the total
silence of old historians as to its invention in Europe.

^* autre de qudque crime qui m&ite la mort,
'^ c'est la coustume de demander d Taccus^
'' 8*il soustieiidra bien I'espreuve du feu.
*' Sll respond qu'oiiy^ alors on fait chauffer
** un morceau de fer, jtaqu'i ce gi^il soit
*^ tout rouge. On luy dit ensuite d'estendre
** sa maioy et on metdessuB aeptfeuilles d'un
'' certain arbre qu'ik ont dans les Indes, et
''le fer rouge par dessus les feuilles. II
^ marche enmite de coste et d^autre pendant
^ qudque tempi, et aprds cela il jette le fer.
Aum-doit (m luy met la main dam une
poche de cuir, qui est en mime tempe ca-
** chetee avec le sceau du Prince: au bout
'' de trois jours, s'il vient pour comparobtre,
'' en disant qu*il lia wuffert aucune brulure,
" on luy ordonne de tirer sa main : s'lY n*y
** paroitt aucune inqfression du feu, il est
** declare innocent, et d£livr6 du supplicc
'' dont il estoit menac6. Uaccusateur est
'' condamn6 d payer un man d'or d^amende
** envers le Prince. Quelquefois ils font
" boiiillir de Teau dans une chaudi^re jusqu'i
^' ce qu'elle soit si chaude que personne
^' n'en puisse approcher. Ik jettent alors
'' dans la chaudiire un anneau de fer, et
** commandent i celuy qui est accuse de
'^ mettre sa main dedans, et de retirer Pan-
neau. J'en ay vfl," says the Arabian writer,
un qui y mit sa main de cette maniire, et
^ qui la retira saine et entiere. Uaccusateur
*' est de mesme condamn6 i payer un man

The same custom prevailed in Italy, and,
perhaps, in other parts of Europe, about die
same time, or soon aftei^ Bettinelli (Risoigi-
mento d'ltalia, torn. ii. p. 369), after men-
tioning other superstitious methods, by which
the innocence or guilt of an accused person
was established during die low ages in Italy,
relates as follows : '^ The trial by fire obliged
'^ the accused person to carry in his hands, for
'^ the distance of nine or twelve paces, a plate
^^ of iron, of the weight of three pounds,
" heated till it was red hot; or, else, he was
*^ to thrust his hand into an iron glove, heated
^' in the same manner ; or into a cauldron of
^' boiUng water, from the bottom of which
'' he was to take a ring. Immediately upon
'' his hand being taken out of die iron glove,
'' or from the cauldrop, it was wrapped in a
<< cloth, which was sealed with the seal of
'^ the judge, and that of the accuser ; and, at
" the expiration of three days, the hand was
^' uncovered, in a public and formal manner,
^' by breaking the seab ; when, if it was found
'' to have sustained no visible injury, the ac-
'' cused person was declared innocent.'' These,
and other similar practices, says Bettinelli,
are of German origin. The testimony of the
Arabian writer, however, and it is undoubted
authority, since he was an eye-witness, proves
them to be Asiatic. The two accounts re-
semble each other in so many minute parti-
culars, that it seems impossible the coinci-
dence should have been die effect of chance.

H 2

62 EARLY INTERCOURSE BETWEEN [chap. ii.

The ancient use of wood engraving amongst the people of China,
Japan, and some other parts of the east, is not denied by those
waiters who, nevertheless, are unwilling to admit that we are in-
debted to them for the discovery : the little intercourse, say they,
which took place between us previous to the fifteenth century, and
the vast distance of those countries, oppose the supposition that we
got it from them ; and, moreover, the earliest European travellers
take no notice of Chinese printing.

To the first of these objections it may be answered ; that however
it is applicable to Europe in general, it is by no means applicable ta
Venice.

The Venetians, even as early as the sixth century,* had rendered
themselves a naval and commercial power of some consideration.'
The situation of their city, and the growing strength of their fleets,,
secured them from the calamities to which their neighbours were sa
ofien exposed ; and, little affected by the troubles and revolutions'
of Italy, during succeeding centuries of anarchy and barbarism, they
silently pursued their course, solely intent on riches and aggran-
dizement. It appeared, to use the expression of an Italian writer,,
as if they had not determined to what nation they should belong ;
but, meanwhile, they lent themselves to that which they thought
could best serve them, and would be most productive of profit, f

The centre of their commercial operations was Constantinople,
where, even prior to the ninth century, they had the good fortune
to make themselves serviceable to the Greek Emperours, and were
well received. So intimate, indeed, was the communication between
the Greeks and the Venetians, that we learn, from the most ancient
chronicles, that the Greek language was commonly spoken in Ve-
nice ; the dresses of the people, as well as their customs, were for

* Buschif^. ** La Italia Geografico-sto-» f BettinelU. '' Risorgimento d'ltalia/
rico^politica," Veoeaa. 1780. 8vo. torn ii* torn. ii. p. £79*
p. 39.

CHAP, n.] VENICE AND CHINA. 53

the most part Greek ; and even their most magnificent buildings
were, in a great measure, the works of Greek artists.

In process of time, their credit became so firmly established at
Constantinople, that in 1189, a district of that city was given to them
by the Emperour.

After the tenth century, they acquired possessions and territory
in Tyre, at Jerusalem, and elsewhere ; insomuch, that, soon afler
1200, the government gave directions to Marsilio Giorgio, that
he should compose a full and particular account of the places
under its dominion; which work, if we except, perhaps, some
books of travels, may be termed the earliest specimen of Venetian
literature, ♦

The east thus became to the Venetians an inexhaustible source of
wealth ; for, by their skill and industry, they succeeded in extending
their commercial relations, even to the extreme parts of Asia, They
received into their magazines at Alexandria and Cairo, by sea, the
productions of Arabia, Persia, and the most remote parts of India ;
and, thence, bringing them to Venice, distributed them to all parts of
Europe, as well by sea as by land carriage.

They succeeded, likewise, in establishing a direct traffic with Persia,
Tartary, China, and Japan; sending, for that purpose, several of their
most respectable citizens, and largely providing them with every
requisite, f About 1250, though some accounts say earlier, Niccolo
and Maffeo (or Matteo) Polo, lefl Venice and proceeded to Constan*^
tinople; whence, crossing the Black Sea, they visited Persia, Tar-
tary, and China. They staid several years at the court of Kublay,
the Great Chan of Tartary, whose flattering and cordial reception
of the Venetian travellers is, I think, sufficient evidence of some
previous intercourse between the two countries. About 1269 they
returned to Venice; and in 1271, or the beginning of 1272, they set
out upon a second visit to Tartary and China, taking with them
Marco Polo, the son of Niccolo and the nephew of Maffeo : upon

* BetiineUi, torn, ii p. 281. j^ BeitinelUf torn iL £82. *

54 IMPROBABILITY THAT WOOD ENGRAVING [chap. ii.

this occasion, they are said to have been entertained seventeen
years at the court of the Chan of Tartary. Marco, as is well known,
wrote the account of his travels, some time after the return .of the
three citizens to Venice, which took place in 1295. *

The early and intimate intercourse between Venice and the nations
of the east, is, therefore, fibundaiitly proved ; and this is all that was
wanted, to shew that the supposition of the Venetians having ac-
quired the art of engraving in wood through their means, is not
unreasonable.

But Marco Polo, it may be said, did not notice this art in the
account which he left us of the marvels he had witnessed in
China. The answer to this objection is obvious ;' it was no mar-
vel; it had no novelty to recommend it; it was practised in 1285,
as we have seen, at Ravenna; and had, perhaps, been practised
a century earlier in Venice. His mention of it, therefore, was not
called for, and he preferred instructing his countrymen in matters
with which they were not hitherto acquainted; and relating won-
ders which, until corroborated by other testimony, were not be-
lieved, f

It is however necessary that I should give some further reasons
for the opinion above declared. Since the showing that we might
have got the art of wood engraving from the east, does not prove
that we did. And as for the silence of old writers respecting its
being invented in Europe, the same argument may be insisted upon,
with equal force, to shew that we did not derive it from the east ;
since no one has recorded it. I shall, therefore, with as much brevity
as the question will admit of, defend my hypothesis upon the simple
ground of probability.

* Tiraboschi, ^^ Storia della Letteratura confirmed the truth of some of his accounts^

Italiana." Modena, 17B8.4to. tom.iv.p. 91, but that which, most oi all, established his

et seq. character for veracityi was the publication of

f His book, for a long time^ was considered '' The Traveb of the two Ardbi* in the nintB

as little better than a collection of fables of century^ mentioned in a preceding note.—-

his own invention ; later travellers^ however^ THrahoichu torn. iv. p. 103.

CHAP. II.] WAS INVENTED IN EUROPE. 55

An ORIGINAL and great invention, and that of which we treat
well merits that name, is amongst the rarest of human occwrences.
We combine, we modify, we improve ; we correct that which was
before defective ; and thus, by slow degrees, arts and sciences are
brought to perfection. But of original and great inventions, it will
not, I think, be going too far to say, that one of them is more than
falls to the average proportion of an age.

Such fruits of the human intellect, and especially those which
relate to the sciences, or the fine arts, cannot be looked for, except
from man in a state of civilization, peace, and comparative happi*
ness; and were consequently very unlikely to be produced in
Europe during those rude centuries in which the means of plunder
and aggression on the one hand, and the arts of self-preservation
on the other, constituted the chief occupation of men's thoughts, and
were the main spring of their actions.

It is indeed true, that in the Xlllth century Niccola Pisano,
and Giovanni Cimabue, the first a sculptor, the second a painter,
made the first steps towards the re-establishment and improve-
ment of their respective arts : but they were not the inventors of
those arts, which, however degraded, had never entirely ceased to
be practised, even in the most barbarous times, by Greek as well
as by European artists. Still the times in which Pisano and Cima-
bue lived, although the dawnings of civilization had begun to appear
in Italy, were those of comparative darkness and ignorance.

The encreasing pomp of the Roman church, fostered as it was by
the enthusiasm of all classes of the people ; the rivalry of the differ-
ent Italian cities, which vied with each other in testifying their
devotion to their patron saints, by works of superstitious magnifi-
cence, (and never was this religious rivalry more general throughout
Italy, than in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries*) were causes
which could scarcely fail to operate powerfully towards effecting

• Witness the Duomo of Orvieto, the Francesco at Jssm, and the fagade of the
Campo Santo of Pha, the Church of 5. Duomo of Sienna; all of them striking exam-

56 IMPROBABILITY THAT WOOD ENGRAVING [chap. ii.

the restoration of the fine arts : and yet, so forcibly were they
counteracted by the general distaste for literature and science,
which still prevailed, added, perhaps, to the disquietude of those
times, that had it not been for Giotto, (who may truly be said to
have been gifted by nature with a genius of most rare occurrence,
and who struck out a new path) painting would probably have con-
tinued, for nearly two centuries, without experiencing any sensible
improvement; a supposition which we are the better justified in
forming, as, firom his time to the time of Masaccio, a period of
considerably more than a hundred years, little change in the art of
painting, that can be called improvement, did take place.

The thirteenth, or even the fourteenth century, therefore, was not
likely to have been productive of an invention like that we treat of; ,
jeven in Italy, where letters and science, nevertheless, revived so6ner
than in other parts of Europe.

Some writers, however, have insisted that the principk of this
art, impression, was well known to the ancients; and that this i$
evident from their stamps of iron and other metals, still preserved in
our museums, with which, as it is supposed, they marked their
names or other inscriptions on their bales of goods, and on various
articles of their manufacture ; and, moreover, that this practice of
applying stamps continued to be used throughout Italy, and in
other parts of Europe, during the low ages.

The art of taking impressions fi-om engraved blocks of wood,
according to these writers, is little else than a modified application
of a principle of universal notoriety from time immemorial, and
consequently, scarce merits the name of an . invention. Nay,
Typography itself, it should seem, is no new invention : the idea
of it, say they, was familiar to Cicero; and it is also known that the
ancient artists, in stamping their inscriptions upon their lamps of

pies of the religiooB weal and costly magm- and scdptore ; to say nothing of a very large
ficence of diose oenturiea, and decorated proportion of flie principal churches in othe||
mth numerous works of earty Italian pamting parts of Italy.

CHAP. II;] WAS INVENTED IN EUROPE. 57

Terra-Cotta^ used each letter separately, as our bookbinders do
in lettering their volumes : the idea of moveable characters, thercr
fore, say they, was no novelty. ♦

The stamps and signets of the ancients, their lamps, their
vases, and their bassi-relievi of clay, which first being cast, or
pressed into form, by means of molds, were afterwards finished by
the tools of the modeller — ^and often, in parts, marked with letters,
or ornaments, by the simple operation of stamping — sufficiently
prove, I acknowledge, that they were no strangers to the art of
impression. It also appears that they had stamps of separate
letters.

But it is. to be observed that the mode of impression here spoken
of, in which the effect is produced by the siinple operation of
pressing one body against another body of soft;er texture, and
thereby occasioning a change of form in its surface, is very distinct
fi'om that which is the subject of our inquiry : for the effect which
is produced in the impressions taken from engravings on wood, is
not that of a change of form in the surface of the paper on which

* '^ On sait que les Grecs et les Romaios '' idfe d^imprimer aveo des tjpes mobiles."

^' avoient des twgues qui leur servoient noD- Jansen, £isat tur POriginede la Gravure.

*' settlement de cachets, mais qu'ils appo- torn. i. p. 75, et torn. ii. pp. 34, 35.
'^ soient aussi siir diffi^rens objets. Us con- Cicero, in refiitation of the opinion, diat the

*' noissoient m^me les Jettres mobiles, ainsi universe was die effect of the accidental union

'^ qu 'on en a des preuves snr les lampes de of numberless atoms (De Natura Dearum,

'^ terre cnite,telles queM.deMnrr {Journal lib. it. cap. 37) thus expresses himself: Cur

" zur Kunstgeschic^e, torn. ii. p. 182) dit Hon idem putei, n innumerabilei unius ei

^' en avoir vft i Venise et au Cabinet de viginti formm litterarum, vel aurea, vel

** Portici, et dont ils se servoient k peu pr^ qualesHbet^ atiqud conjiciantur, posse ex his

^ de la m^e mani^re que le font aujour- tn .terrain excussis annales Ennii, deinceps

*^ d*htti nos relieurs pour les Etiquettes snr les legi possint ^fici. St Jerome, also, re-

'' dos des livres. - commends the practice of teaching children

. '^ M. de Murr pense m^e que les Ro- to read and speU, by means of separate letters

^'. mains avoient des planches zylographiques; cut in hard wood, "or ivoiy. See Lambinet

^ et, suivant M. Kscher {Beeehreibmg tgpo^ ^' Origine de I'lmprimerie/' tom, i. pp. 45

'* graphischen Sdtenheiten Ersie lirferung. et seq. (8vo. Paris, 1810).
** p. .33) CicEroa s'itoit d£ji. form6 une

^ IMPROBABILITY THAT WOOD ENGRAVING [cha? • lu

such impremiens are taken, but €i chat^ ^ colour; the parts im-
pressed iXk the white paper being rendeied apparent, not by any
indentation of the paper in those parts, but by the black tint wilh
which the prelecting surfiaMse of the block was charged previous
to the operation of printing it; which tint, by that operation, was
transferred to the paper.

Unless, therefore, some evidenoe be ImHigkt to prove that the
ai^ents used thdr stamps, not only to impress wax; clay, and other
soft bodies, but, also, that they aj^ied them charged with mk,
or some other tint, for the purpose of stamping paper, parchment,
or other substances, little, or not at all, capable of indentatioii— *
(and we are hitherto without such evidence), we shall still have
reason to believe that they were wholly unaa|uainted with the art
of which we treat. ♦

* Abundant evidence, in support of diis
opinion, might easily be brought forward*
XamMief, before cited (torn. i. pp. 51, 58)
describes an ancieiit stamp in itUagUo^
which was evidently intended to be used upon
wet day, and is an interesting illustration of
the observations offered in die text

^ En 1808^" says he, *^ dans une fooaie
pr^ de Noittm, ancienne forteresse des
GaoleSy chcs les htueiy aqowdlmi Nais,
viUage situ^ snr la rivi^ d'Qmain, d6part»-
ment de la Meuse^ on trouva deux feiite$
pierrei en forme de tablettes, chargies ^it^
dcripHom mr teur tnnuhe ieuhmeni, et son
sur leur snrfiice. Les caraclires ne poiH
voient kite lus, parce quU itoient grm6» en
iem iwoene, M. Barth^lemi, propri^taire,
envoya ces pierres i TAcad&nie Cehique de
Paris. M. Dnkmre, charg6 de les examiner,
^ j^^ 4^ ^ tabletles oik ces caractdres
£toient empreints durent 6tre dans Torigine
des espies de dgiUa on formes matrices
qu'on appliquoit sur one mati^re molle ou
mise en fusion. 11 a vik qu'ils servoient A

imprimer sur un vase contenant des m£dica-
meus composes ; la vertu de ces m^dicamens
et le nom du mfdecin qui les avoit presents
ou du pharmaden qui itoit chaig^ de les
vendre. Voici la premi^ inscription de ce
genre:

Q. Jim. ToMoi Anody
Num. ad omn. Upp.

Le savant Ddanre lit : Qntnft JmU Tmirt-
da anodhnun ad ammes ^nm* RemMe
aaxMlin de Quintus Jmnus Tauriditts pour
toos les mans d'yenx . . . • Memoires de
tAaodknie Cdtique de Paris, 1808, Nos. 9
et 10, avec pfanobes/'

Jamen, " De rinvention.de rimprimerie,"
Paris, 1809, 8vo. p. 190, observes: " On
sait que les Romains avoient coutume de
marquer leurs vases. On tronve une infinite
de ces vases de terre ohaig^s d'inscc^tions,
sur lesqueb on pent vsoir les recueils d'anti-
qoit& de M. le Comte de Cjylus. Fasa
tigmire veut natnrellement dire cacketer des
vases, da tHnUeilles, et c'est ce qui se pssifi^

CHAV. II.] WAS nWBNTED IN EUROPfi. fid

Such a candusioQ is leas derogatory to the genius and talent
of the ancients, than it would be for us to suppose that they baci
discovered the rudiments of this art^ but were unequal, during so
maiiy centuries, to the task of bringing it to perfection ; for as to
the idea, which some writers have suggested, that the ancients were
aware of the adVantages which might be derived from the art of
printing, and yet did not choose to practise it, I must own it has
no place in my belief.

The transition, therefore, from the use of these stamps, in what-
soever manner they were applied, to the art which we term psint-
ING, or taking impressi<ms from letters or ^igravings, by means of
black or any other tint, on paper, was not an obvious transition.
The world appears to have existed more than two thousand years
without its having occurred to any one to. make it ; and it seems
very improbable, that it should have iallen to the lot of the unen-
lightened and degraded inhabitants of Europe, during the anarchy
of the twelfth or thirteenth century, to be the means of effecting
that, to which the united talents of the sages of Greece, Egypt, and
Rome, had been incompetent

Lanzi justly observes, that the stamps of the ancients, and the
impressions from seals of metal, found on deeds and conveyances of
the low ages, prove nothing more, than that mankind walked for
many succeeding centuries upon the borders of the two great
inventions of Typography and Chalcography, without having the
luck to discover either of them ; and appear neither to have had
any influence upon the origin of those arts, nor to merit any place
in their History. *

^Upon the whole, the most reasonable conclusion appears to be
that the Venetians acquired the art of wood engraving at a very
early period of their intercourse with the people of Tartary, Thibet,
and China; that they practised it, amongst the other arts which

tiuoit. On mettoit le nom da consul sur le annfe 6toit le via qu'on j comervoit, &c.''

^^pourfaireToirdeipielle * Storia Piitorica, torn, i, p. 92.

I 2

THE WOOD ENGRAVERS OF VENICE |chap.^ ii.

they had learned from their Eastern * friends, as a means of bene-
ficiaj traffic with the continent of Europe j and that, in the course
of time, the artists of Germany, arid other parts, found out their
secret and practised it themselves. But to return to the edict of
which we were speaking*

It is to be observed, that the government of Venice did not deem
it necessary to provide against the importation of printed figures
and cards of foreign manufacture until 1441 ; which is; I think, some
evidence that, in the beginning of that century, they were not
manu&ctured in such large quantities, or of so good a quality, in
other parts of Europe, as they were afterwards. For the Venetian
merchants of that period, whose commercial relations extended td
every part of civilized Europe, would not have failed to import
such articles of devotion, luxury, or amusement, long beforci had
not the demand for them been fully supplied by their own artists, at
as cheap a rate as they could be imported from foreign parts.

It is therefore probable, that, although the art of engraving in
wood had been practised in many parts of Europe, as well as in
Venice, prior to 1400, the Venetian engravers continued to be more
numerous, and, perhaps, more ^Iful, than those of other countries,
until some time afler that period; but that, at length> wood

* Busching, before cited, (torn. ii« p. 15,)
enumerates several sorts of maDufacture which
it is probable the Venetians learned in their
intercourse with the East, and which, he says,
they exclusively possess; especially a parti-
cular mode of makmg looking-glasses and
glass beads. Temanza (Lett. Pitt tom. v.
p. 327) mentions a complaint preferred by
the Venetian looking*gIass makers against the
painters, previous to 1436, for endeavouring
to prevent them from ornamenting their look-
ing-glasses with painting, without having re-
course to them ; which the company of paint-
ers seem to have consid^^d an infringement
of their privil^es. Upon this occasion a re-

ference is made to another document^ appa-
rently respecting them, as well as the painters,
of the year 1345. — ^The showy productions
of ancient Venetian manufacture are even
now proverbial throughout Italy, under the
appellation of ^^ le galanterie di Vene^a."

Mr. Douce possesses, in his highly valu-
able and interesting collection, a curious chart
of Venetian workmanship of about 1400 : it
is neatly drawn with a pen, and folded in a
manner very similar to many of the oriental
manuscripts. The style of the cover in which
it is enclosed, and, indeed, its whole appear-
ance, is truly Asiatic.

chap; II.] INCORPORATED WITH THE PAmTERS. 91

engraving became improved by the artists, of other parts ; and that
these, after the use of playing cards^ was become general, so in-i
creased in number and dexterity, a& to be able to furnish theiiT'
^ards and printed figures at a lower price, and of a better quality,
than the Venetian artists themselves could do ; thust menacing
entirely to supersede the use of the productions of an ancient Vene-»
tian manufacture, even in the city of Venice itself^ Under these
circumstances the government prudently stept forward for the pro-<
tection of- its own citizens with the above decree ; which,, as Zani
observes, was intended to favor those artists who resided within the
city of Venice exclusively^ by prohibiting the importation of such
kind of works, not only from distant parts of Europe, but even from
places under the dominion of the Venetian republic*

We learn from this document, that the artists who engraved in
wood were incorporated with the painters of Venice, making part of
the same company, as the barbers anciently did, with the surgeons,
in this country.

This sort of union was common with the artists of those early time^
throughout Italy, The professors of painting, indeed, held the first
rank, but ^1 those who practised any art or handicraft at all con-
nected with it, were included in the same corporate body. TTius
the company of S. Luke at Venice comprised the engravers in wood,
who manufactured cards and printed figures, and painters of the
lowest order; besides the makers of trunks,, chests, and various other,
articles of furniture, which it was customary, in those times, to
decorate with carved- work and painting; also the carvers and
gilders, who prepared the gold grounds upon which paintings were
executed, and the ponderous decorations that surrounded them ;■ all
which things were finished before the painter commenced his
labours, as the picture and its frame were never separated-^ The

* Zanif '^ Materially Sec." p. 77. Zani as a matter of course, that all these foreign

makes this remark in refer^ce to a passage manufacturers of cards were Germans : *^ qtu

iu Heineken, (Idee Generale, p. 245) who, sam dotUe/^ sajs he, ^' iioient des Jlle--

after noticing the decree in guestion, observes, mands.**

e» SILENCE Of OLD WRITERS RESPECTINO [chap. tR

painters' coikipany atBolo^^na comprised even tl^ saddlers, and those
who made the sheaths of swords and daggers ; because such thmg^
were often ornamented with painting and gilding : that of Florence
comprised all those artists who worked in metal or on wood, and
to whose arts the knowledge of design was in a greater or lestf
degree necessary.*

The silence of old writers, as to the art of engraving in wood, has
already be^i noticed, and I have endeavoured to account for it.
In addition to the arguments which I then used, L must observe
that it is probable that, for a very long time, the nature of this art
remained a secret, known to few, exc^t those who practised it ; and that
it was coinmonbf confounded with painting or drawing. The representa-*
tions of saints, and other devotional subjects, which the first wood
eligravers produced, were rudely engraved and printed in outline;
and then daubed over with a few gay colours, in the manner so
long afterwards continued in Germany and the low countries ; so
as to catch the eye of the vulgar, who no doubt considered them
as pictures, and, like the vulgar of our own times, so denominated
them. Being manufactured with little labour, they were sold at a
cheap rate, and perhaps sometimes distributed gratis to the common
people, who hung them up in their private oratorio, or in other
parts of their dwellings. H^ice it is reasonable to suppose, that
they were little esteemed by the richer classes of the community,
who considered them as paintings of an inferior kind, and them-
selves employed artists of eminence to execute more finished pic-^
tures of such devotional subjects as they required, on vellum, or

* Lanzi, Scoria PtMortcii,toiii.i. pp. 30,
3 1 . Hie compaoy of painters at Venice, he
says, was established previoas to 1990. Un-
fortunately the original books of dns an*
cient company were destroyed a litde be-
fore 1436, and new ones written in their
stead; in which, however, such of the
ancient kws tod rq;nlationB as were then
deemed profitable were inserted. Hence

many interesting records which, although diqr
m^t have been imperlfect as laws, would, no
doubt, have dirown further l^t upon the
arts of the eaily Venetians and, amongst the
res^ perhaps, upon their wood engraving —
are irrecoverably lost.

See a second letter written by Temanta to
Count Algarottif inserted p. 323 of the fifth
vol. of the '< Lettere Pittariche/'

<»AF. ii.J WOOD BNGR AYING ACCOUNTED^ FOR.

t ii:ik5li

on board. It is, tberefOTe^ not extraordiBuy t^At the aj
9f wood engraving should have escaped the notice of coi
neous historians^ mnce many dP them were> p^haps^ unc<
even of the ^dstence of such an art; and those who were acquainted
with it, consickred it as an art of small importance.

Similar observations apply to playing cards. These were, no
doubt, at first designed and finished by the hand ; but soon became
manufisictured in large quantities by the engravers in wood. Never-
theless, persons of elevated rank still continued to employ artists <tf
superior ability to paint them with the greatest delicacy in minia«
twe ; and it is related that Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan,
when a young man, paid no less than fifteen hundred crowns of
gold for a pack of cards. * It is probable that the old Venetian
cards described by Lanzi, which, although printed, had the ground
bdiind the figures gilded, w&re intended for the use of the higher
classes of the community.

Heineken,f and some othw writers, have ascribed the inventicm
cf «igraving in wood to the manufacturers of cards; but they
have been unable to produce any evidence in support of such an
opinion.

* FiSppo Maria VUcomti wm bom 139^,
and died 1447. It is dierefore probable, w
Zani observes, (Mateiiali, &c. p. 186) that
these cards were purchased prior to 1412.
It wil be seen from the ori|^iial passage in
which the cirauDsstance is recorded by De>
cembrio in his life of the said Fitcanti, (Me-
diohni apud Mekhiarii MalaieMU^y l6S0,
cap. IxL p. SS) that these cards were very
different from snob as are now used.

*^ Vaciis etinm liidendi modis ab adoles-
^ ceotia usus est; nam mode pila se ezer-
^ cebat, nunc folliculo : pUrvnque to ludi
^ genere^ qui ex imaginibut depictiifii in
'< quo prsBcipue oblectatus est adeo ut inte*
^'grum eormn Indum mille et qiudngenlis

** ameis emerit auctore vel in primis Murii^
^' ano Derthonetm ejus Secretario, qui Do-
'^ Oram imagines, subjectasque his animalium
'^ figuras, et avium miro ingenio, summaque
** industria perfecit," &c.

Cards, indeed, appear to have been ex-
ecuted in various manners for people of high
distinction, and of various materiab. Jansen
(tom. i. p. 86, '^ Essai sur TOrigine de la Gra-
nge'*) tdls US, that BreiVAogf describes a pack
of piquet carde, in .whidi the figures were en«
graved and gik on plates of rilver. Judging
from their style of design, he was of opinion
that diey were the work of some artiBt of the
Low Countries in the sbteenth century.

tJU6eGliitele,p.aS7,etseq.. '

6^ EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS [chap. ii.

The argument of these writers is briefly as follows: the ^ use of
playing cards having become general, say they, the artists, * whose
occupation it was to make them, finding the great length of time
which was required to design them with the hand, began to think
that much labour would be saved were they to engrave their outlines
upon blocks of wood, and print them ; and that, therefore, they in-
veiited the art in question. This mode of reasoning seems founded
upon the algreeable supposition, that the means of accomplishing any
desired purpose are always to be ready at the call ; and could be
applied, with equal force, in support of the opinion, that wood
engraving had been invented two centuries earlier, for the purpose
of satisfying the popular demand for the images of saints.

The truth is, that we have no evidence whatever of wood
engraving having been invented in Europe, but, on the contrary,
many reasons to suppose that we got^ it from the East ; amongst
which jnay be named the mode of printing used by our early en-
gravers on wood, and the cuistom,< still, I understand, preserved in
Germany, of gluing the design itself, which it is intended to engrave,
upon the wooden block : -both of them methods which exactly re-
semble those practised, from time immemorial, by the Chinese.

I am of opinion with Breitkopf, that wood prints of saints,*
and other devotional subjects, preceded the use of wood engraving
in the manufacture of playing cards; and, indeed, if wood en^
graving was practised^ as I have endeavoured to shew, prior to
1285, such must have. been the case ; since we have no good autho-
rity for supposing that cards came into any thing like general use
until consideriably after that period.

That, upon the use of playing cards becoming prevalent, the
artists who were accustomed to engrave .the figures of saints, aqd
other devotional subjects, were not tardy in applying the art they
had so long practised, to the purpose of manufacturing those articles
of amusement, may well be believed. Nor could the additional

* So I learofrDDi Jamen, '' Essai sur TOrigine de la Gravure,?' torn. i. p. 104^

CHAP. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARD!?. e$

lelicoQr^gement, which the great demand for playing cards occa-^
9ionedf fail to stimulate the exertions and increase the numbers of
the professors of engraving in wood^ The use of cards^ therefore^
Ulthough it does not appear to have given rise to the invention of
that art, powerfully operated towards its further promulgation ; and
is> on that account, in a considerable degree connected with its early
history.

In oije point of view, indeed, the ANTiauiTY of cards becomes
a feature of great importance in our inquiry ; because, whatever
documents can be produced which prove their general use in
any European country at any early period, may, without an
unreasonable stretch of hypothesis, be brought in evidence, that
the art of wood engraving was known in that country at that
tirne^ Forj before wood engraving was resorted to in the manu-*
facture of cards, they must have been designed and painted by the
hand ; and the labour required in preparing entire packs of cards
in that manner, must have made them far too expensive an amuse*
ment to be indulged in by any but the more opulent classes of
society, and, consequently, must have acted as a prohibition against
their genera/ use.

The EARLY HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS thcmselvcs is, howevcr, in-
volved in great obscurity ; and I am the less disposed to enter upoi)
the difficulties of its discussion, as a gentleman,* much better fitted
for the task than I am, has been some time employed upon a work
relative to that curious subject, which, when completed, will, 1 have
no doubt, satisfy the inquiries of those who are lovers of research^
as far as the materials and evidence, now existing, can furnish the
means. Referring the reader, therefore, to that work for fuller in-
formation, I shall content myself with a slight review of the question.

Anstis, in his History of the Order of the Garter, produces a
passage, cited from a wardrobe computus, made in the sixth year of

* Mr, fV. S. Singer, to whose liberal communications upon tbe subject, and of
kindness I am indebted for several interesting ^hose name future mention will be mad^.. >

EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDa [chap, lit

our Kiiig Edward the First, (a. d. 1277) in which mention is made
of a game entitled " The Four Kings/' The words are " Waltero
Sturton, ad Opus Regis, ad ludendum ad quatuor reges, viii;^. yd.*^
and hence that writer conjectures that playing cards were then used
in England ; a supposition which might seem the less unreasonable
since we have no account of any game played in Europe, in which
Four Kings were used, except in cards. ♦ Still it is possible that
4^s game might have been the oriental game of chess, which was
sometimes played with four kings.

* Mr. Stnitt, who has given this passage,
in p. 285 of his Sports and Pastimes (2d edit.)
proceeds to observe, that, in the opinion of
those learned in Asiatic history, cards vrert
used in eastern parts of the vrorld long before
they vrere known in Europe ; and hence he
considers it not improbable, that Edward the
First, who, before his accession to the throne,
had resided nearly five years in Syria, might
have learned the game of* The Four Kingf in
that countiy, and introduced it at court upon
his return to England. He admits, however,
that the total silence of every kind of autho-
rity respecting card playing, from the above
period until 1463, (an interval of more than
one hundred and eighty years) when Edward
the Fourth, upon the petition of the card
makers of London, prohibited the importa-
tion of foreign cards, appears to constitute a
powerful objection to such a conjecture.

Still Mr. Strutt justly observes, that the
silence of ancient documents respecting card
playing ^^ is by no means a positive proof
'^ that the game of ' The Four Kings^ was not
" played with cards, nor that cards did not
'^ continue to be used during the whole of the
'' above»mentioned interval in the higher cir-
** cles, though not perhaps with such abuus
«< as were afterwards practised^ and which
*^ excited the reprehension of the moral and

'' religious writers. Besides,** continues he^
'^ at the time that cards were first introduced,
'^ they were drawn and pamted by the hand
^ without the assistance of a stamp or plate :
** it follows of course that much time was re*
** quired to complete a set or pack of cards:
^ the price they bore no doubt was adequate
'' to the labour bestowed upon them, which
'< necessarily must have oihanced their value
'^ beyond the purchase of the under classes of
<< the people ; and, for this reason,** continues
he, '' it is, I presume, that card playing,
'^ though it might have been known in Eng-
'' land, was not much practised until such
*' time as inferior sets of cards, proportion*
f' ally cheap, were produced for the use of
<< the commonalty; which seems to have been
'' the case when Edward the Fourth ascended
<* flie tiirone," &c.

With respect to die objection which, ac*
cording to the same writer, some have uiged
against the antiqmty of playing-cards; viz. thai

in those eariy times there was no paper proper
for their fabrication, I shall only observe that
it appears to me to be ill-founded. Two
sheets of the ancient cotton-paper pasted to-
gedier, and rubbed over with size, would have
constituted a body of suflBcient strength and
thickness for any purpose required in playing-
cards.

CHAP. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS,

•7

The Abbe Longuerve declares, that the use of cards was pro«
hilated to tlie clergy by a Council held at Cologne in 1281 ;* and
Papillon informs us, that cards were forbidden by an edict of
8. iiouist upon his return from the Holy Land in 1254.f Both
these writers^ it is now commonly believed, were mistaken in the
sense in which they understood the prohibitory passages in these
two edicts. Dice and other games of hazard, it is said, were referred
to, but not cards.

The celebrated Tiraboschi, however, cites a manuscript of one
Sandro di Pipozzo di Sandro,^ entitled, ^' Trattato del Goverao
della Famiglia," composed in 1299, in which playing-cards are ex-
pressly mentioned; and Heineken informs us, that in a book entitled

* See Zani, p. 79, and note 73, p* 152,
The words wliich Longuerve considered ap-
plicable to cards, were these : Item (Clerici)
** ad aleoi et taxillos non ludant, nee hufus
f^ modi ludis interrintJ* (JSarttkem^ ** Con-
cilia Germanise,'^ vol. iii. p. 364.

t Pajnllan, torn. i. p. 80. The words m
diis edict of S. Louis of 1254, which Pajnl-
Um understood as relating to cards, are:
*^ Praeterea prohibemus districte, ut nuUus
** homo ludat ad taxilloSf me aleis, aut
« scaceU:* Heineken, '' Id6e Gfefoale,''
p. 239. Zani, p. 153.
. % Tirabo$chi—'' Storia della I^ttera-
tare Italiana," torn. W. p. 1194. Modena,
1788 al 1794. This manuscript was first
leferred to by the authors of the Foca-
Mario della CruMca, who, beside other
mention of it, cite from it these words: se
giucheri di danari, o cod, o atte cartb gli
apparecekierai la via, &c. There are, how-
ever, it seems, two or three copies of it ; and
' £mj, ^^ Materiali, ^c/' p. 160, appears in-
cUned to believe this passage relative to cardt

to be an interpolation of a copyist of the be-
ginning of the fifteenth century; ahhougb I
think without sufficient reason. The truth is,
that Zani, in consequence of having, as he
thought, detected the fallacy of 9ome pre*
tended documents in favor of the antiquity of
cards, and findii^ the early Councils silent re-
specting them, became sceptical to aU. He
appears to have had no idea that card-phying
could at any time have been considered as an
innocent amusement ; a reflection which, had it
occurred to him, (and he himself cited a pas*
sage from Morelli's Chronicle which might
have given him the hint) would in a great
degree have obviated his objections. How-
ever, some of the documents which he dis-
credited have since been confirmed; and
others have been discovered which fiimish rea-
son for the belief that cards, of some kind or
other, were in use, in various parts of Europe,
even earlier than had heretofore been com-
monly supposed. Perhaps, ere this, he has
found that the passage hi Sandro di PipoiKo
isgenume*

EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap, lu

^^ Das gulden Spiel/' (the Golden Game) printed by Gunther Zainer
in 1472,* in folio, it is said, that playing cards were first introduced^
or came, into Germany in the year 1300.

It may seem somewhat extraordinary, that in opposition to this
document, which he himself brought forward, Heineken should
have attempted to shew that cards were invented in Germany,+
Mr. Singer argues from it, with more plausibility, that they found
their way into Germany from Italy ; where he is of opinion, with
Breitkopf, that they were first used.

Charles V. king of France, who died in 1380, is said to have
banished from his kingdom all games of hazard, and to have ho^
laored Jean de Saintre with his favor, because he abstained from
playing at cards or dice 4 ^^^ ^^ archives of France contain an

♦ Idee Generale, p. 241- " II cat diC
bays be^ ** Tit. V. que k jeu de cartes a
comaieiic^ d prendre cours cd Alemagne en
ISOO. Nun iit das tpii vol untrew, und ah
ich gelesen han, so ist e$ kommen tn tuet^
sckland, der ersten in demjar, da man zali
Don cm^ geburt tausend dreilntndert jarP
The passage is also givea by Jamenj wbo
differs, however, from Heineken respecting
the year in which the book was printed. He
says it was printed by Gunther Zainer at
Jlugsburg in 1478. He adds: *^ Mais il
faat croire, dit M. db Mubr/' (for Jansen
has seldom any opinion of his own) '' que
cette £poque est reculie de cinquante ans de
trop; et, suivant M. de Heineken, il est
impossible de d6tertaiiner au joste le temps
de leur invention." Jansen, ** OHgine de la
Gravure/' torn. i. p. 88.

t ** Idie G^nirale/' p. 239. Heineken was
however, afterwards, obliged to give up his
bjpothesis; and admit, that the Italian game,
called Trappola, was, in all probability^ as

Breitkofffhad conjectured^ more ancient than
his favourite German game of Lansquemet*
Compare his Idee Genirale (p. £38, &c.)

with his Beue Bdc!)ricf)ten, pp. 136, 137,

138, and 139, in the last of which pages he
is forced to confess, that '' the passage in
the tCiilfttn ;6pie( of 147£, means no more
than that playing-cards did not come into
Germany befDre 1300 ; and that, therefore, it
cannot be concluded that, at that early period,
cards, printed on paper or pasteboard, existed
in Germany ; although/' he says, '^ it is stiU
probable that playing-cards, which were known
in Italy in l£99i might have made their ap-
:pearance in Germany as soon as 1300.'*

% See Zam, note 77, p* 155, and note 79^
p. 162, who quotes Bullet, ** Redierches
Historiques sur les Cartes ii jouer,'' k Lyon,
1757* Bullet cites the following passage
from the Chronicle of this Jean de Saintre:
'' Et vous qui ites noyeuxjoueux de Cartes
£t de Des, t^c/* The words are supposed |o
be spoken by the king to his^attendants.

XHAP. ii] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS.

entry, in a book of accounts, of one Charbot Poupart, treasurer,
about 1393, which is as follows :

*' A Jacquemin Gringonneur Peintre pour trois jeux de Cartes
a or, ei a diverses couleurs, de plusieurs devises, pour porter de-
vers le dit Seigneur (Charles VI.) pour son ebatement, LVI sols
pansis. *

With respect to this last document, I must obserye that I think
it evident, from the moderate price paid for these three packs of
cards^ that they must have been first printed from engraved
blocks of wood, and afterwards gilt and coloured by hand ; although,
lio doubt, with more than an ordinary degree of care, as they were
for the king's use. f It is also remarkable, if I rightly understand
the expression : '^ de plusieurs devises," that these packs of cards
were of three distinct sorts. J

Cards, however, were used in France considerably before this
period, if we can rely on the authenticity of a manuscript of

• Heineken, ^' Id^ Gfaninie,'' p. £37.
Jansen, *^ Essai sur rOiigine de la Gravure/
torn. i. p. 85. Zam, note 77y p. 155.

-f* I am surprised diat it should not have
occurred to any of the numerous writers on
this subjecti that the price here mentioned
must have been, even in the foorteendi cen-
tury, wholly inadequate to the labour of
drawing and colouring three packs of cards
iiy the band. The artirts who coloured cards,
or other wood prints, were probably styled
painters, in France, as well as in Grer-
many, where, as we shall presently find, they
were termed Briefmaler, We have seen
tiiBt they made part of the company of paint*
ffn at Venice; and there is, I think, good
reason to be of opinion that the term painter
was andently applied to denote any artist
whose business it was to lay on colours,
whedier on paper, on board, on canvass, or on

any other jnaterial, as it is indeed by the
common people to this day,

Meerman, however, amongst others^ cites
the above document in proof of the opinion,
that all the playing-cards of the fourteenth
century were drawn, in the manner of the
miniatures in ancient manuscripts, by the
hand. This it was necessary for him to
insist upon, before he could produce his
hero, Lawrence Coster, as the inventor of
wood engraving* See Jamen, '' de Tlnren-
tion de Tlmprimerie," p. 191.

% Possibly they were of the kinds described
by Conrad Getner in the passage which will
be cited in a note to a subsequent page of
this chapter* Zani (Matiriali, p. 181) mo-
pects that they ipight have been comj>QBed bf
the figures of men, quadrupeds, and birds,
like diose made for Filippo Maria Fiscontip
mentioned in a preceding note^ *

7i EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap. ii.

M. Lancelot^ entitled '' Renart le Contrefait," which, at fol. 95, con*
tains the following passage :

** Si comme fols et foUes sont
Qui pour gaigner au bordel vonf;
Jouent aux dez, aux cartes, aux tables.
Qui k Dieu ne sont delectables."

romance/' says Jansen, who cited it upon the authority of
M. Van Praet, ** is in verse, and was composed by an anonymous
writer, who appears to have been a native of Champagne. He
informs us, at fol. 83, of the period at which he wrote."

€i

Celui qui ce roman escript,

£t qui le fist sans &ire faire,

£t sans prendre autre exemplaire,

Tant y pensa et jour et nuict,

En I'an mil iy cent xxviy.

Bn analant y mist sa cure

Et continua Tescripture.

Plus de xiij ans y mist au faire ;

Aincoit qu'il le pense parfaire^

Bien poet veoir la mani^re.''

^* This passage fixes the entire completion of the romance in
1341. The author/' adds Jansen, ^' records many facts antettor
^ to this date ; he speaks of Philippe de Valois as still living/'*

Contrasted with the testimony of the above romance, is a French
manuscript in folio, of '^ the legendary life of Alexander the Great/'
preserved in the Bodleian Library. It is beautifully written on
vdlum, and most superbly decorated with miniature paintings. At
the end of the MS. is this inscription : '

* Jamen, ^' Emu stir rOrigiae de la Gravure,'^ torn. i. pp. 99, 100.

CBA». fr.l EARLT USE OF PLAYING CARDS. 71

* Ramam du hoin Roi Alixandrt'^m fu perescript h xviii jour dc
** Decembre Fan m.cccxxxviii/'

Then follows, in letters of gold :

" Che livre fu perfais de la enluminure au xviii jour d^Avril per
" Johan de Guse Van de grace M.CCC.XLIII1/*

The text of this MS. is interspersed with highly wrought illumi*
nations of a square form ; independently of which the bottom margins
^f the pages are ornamented with the representations of a vast va-
riety of games and sports, in small figures, arranged in the maA^-
ner- of friezes. These miniatures appear to have no connexioh^
whatever, with the matter contained in the text ; and are purely
decorative. The games of chess, and tables, (if I rightly remember)
occur firequently ; but I could find no representation of card-play-
ing; and hence I conclude that cards could not have been in general
use, at that time, in the place where this MS. was illuminated. ^

Mr. Singer, however, has recently discovered a very curious
document, relative to the early use of playing-cards, in an illu*
mination in another French manuscript romance, supposed to
be likewise of the fourteenth century ; although, probably,, some
years later than the above. It is remarkable (and it goes a good
way towards confirming Mr. Singer's hypothesis, that cards were
finrt: used in Italy) that the group represented appear to be playing
with Italian cards, a card, the &ce of which is visible, being
narked with pieces of money, or denari.'\'

Tliis valuable MS. was formerly in the possession of the Duke
of Roxburgh, and is, I am informed, now preserved in the library
at Lee Priory in Kent.

^ Mr. Strutt has often availed himself of copied them from him.

Ae mimatures id diia MS. in hb work of -f '^^ public will, I bdieve, be gratified

** SpoM and Pastimes f and, indeed, as I with an engraving of this curioin nuMture,

neglected, when at Oxford, to transcribe the in Mr. Singer's work,
inscriptions at the ettd of die volume, I have

72 EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chaf. in

. It may be observed that the writer of the Romance of" Renart le
Contrefait," classes card players with those who played at dice, and
other games of hazard ; and we have already seen cards reprobated
by King Charles the Fifth : both of them circumstances which may
seem ill to accord with the silence of the Councils of those early
times respecting cards. For had card-playing been then in general
use, and classed with games of hazard, destructive to good morals,
it is contended by some writers that those Councils would not have
failed to prohibit it in their synods, as they did other games much
more innocent in their tendency, under severe penalties.

Upon such grounds, Zani, who has taken great pains to elucidate the
subject, by reference to the early Councils,* is led to conclude that
playing-cards are not so ancient as has been commonly supposed.

. The people of Germany, he suspects, were amongst the last who
trere acquainted with their use. His suspicion ^* is founded upon
^* the following words of the Synodus Herbipolensis, anno Christi
i^ 1446 (Hartzheim, Concilia Germaniae, tom, v. p. 333): Ludua
" alearum, scaccorum, chorearum, taxillonun, annulorum, et glo-
^^ borum Monachis, et Monialibus prohibemus districte. Now if in
" this Synod,'' says he, " we find even the game of chess rigor-
** ously prohibited, which is rather a game of talent than of for-
^^ tune, we must reasonably conclude, that playing-cards, of which
<• it makes no mention, were not then known/'f

The first German Council, indeed, in which Zani found playing^
cards prohibited, is the Synodus Bambergensis, anno Christi 1491
(Hartzheim. tom. v. p. 597). The passage is as follows : — " Titulus
" XVL Usum tabemarum, prseterquam in itinere constituti et ijc
** tabernas in domibus suis teneant, ludosque taxillorum et char-

tarum, et his similes in locis publicis, praesertim inter Laicos,i

omnes et singuli Clerici in Praelaturis etiam, et in sacris Ordinibua
'* constituti, sibi hac sacrse nostrae Synodi prohibitione sub excom-
f* municationis poena noverint esse interdictos, et prohibitos. In
f* the Synodus Caminensis, 1492 (p. 661),'* continues Zani, " cardsr

• Zani, '' Material!, &c." p. \52, et «eq. f Ideni^ p. 158, ) 59.

CHAP. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. 73

44
44
44

are also prohibited; and in the Varmiensis Synodus, 1437, cap.

XKXvii. (p« 664) are named : MercantiaB^ choreas, ludos taxil*

lorum^ scurrilia verba et turpia (Cierici) omnino vitent, — ^but
'^ nothing is said of cards."

The silence of the German councils respecting playing cards,
*till jfche year 1491^ seems indeed remarkable; especially whencon*
trasted with the manner in which we have seen them spoken of
in France as early as the middle of the fourteenth century : to say
nothing of the other documents cited by Heineken from Gunther
gainer's Gulden Spiel, and the Chronicle at Ulm.

In Italy, France, and Spain, cards do not appear to have escaped
this censure so long ; and hence it may seem reasonable to con-
clude that they began to be productive of pernicious effects sooner
in those countries than in Germany.

Nevertheless, I am not inclined to dispute the antiquity of playing
cards in Germany; especially as it seems doubtful how far the
jframers of the early Councils might have deemed a specific mention
of them necessary to their prohibition. Upon this question I shall
now offer a few remarks, with a view to reconcile such apparent con-
trariety of testimony ; lest the alleged silence of those Councils, with
regard to cards, should be too easily admitted as proof against their
«drly use ; and employed, as Zani has employed it, as a weapon
by which to overthrow all other documents, however apparently
genuine, that may be brought forward in favor of their antiquity.

The chief point to be decided is, whether or not the early Coun-
cils could have intended to prohibit playing-cards under the term
Alea» Heineken appears to have thought not; and Zani adopted
the same opinion afler considerable research : and yet it may, at
least, admit of a doubt, whether the evidence brought forward by
the last mentioned writer, in confirmation of that opinion, might not
i>e used, with equal effect, in support of an opposite conclusion.

In considering the question, it is necessary, in the first place, to
ascertain the proper acceptation of the word alea — so oflen found in
the decrees of the Councils^ and in the writings of old authors ; and

4€

74 EARLY USB OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap, m

it is evident that, in determining this point, we must keep in view, not
the ancient derivation of the term, but simply the force and. meaning
attached to it in the times in which those documents were written.

Amongst the many works which Zanl examined for this purpose,
he mentions (Materiali, &c. p. 156) several interesting tracts inserted
in Gronovius (Thesaurus Graecarum Antiquitatum, Lugduni Batar
Torum, 1697-99, vol. vii. col. 905, et seq,) " from amongst which,"
says he, '* I shall select that of Bulengerio, that of Souterio, and
^' another of Senftlebio. The first tell us (cap. Iviii. coL 924) that
'* ALEA proprie dicitur de talis, tesseris, calculis, et omnibus fortuitis,
^ quee vetita : — ^the second thus writes (lib. i. cap* xxx. coL 1062) ;
'^ Quum AUEA dicatur omnis ludis in varietate fortunae consistens,
^^ fiictuiSL est, ut Jigurata locutiane Alea seepe sumatur ; And the

third writer (cap. ii. col. 1135) quotes the definitions of various

other authors, beginning thus : —

S. Isidorus, lib. xvii. cap. 57. Alea est ludus tabuloe inventse
** a Gracis in otio Trojani belli a quodam milite, nomine Alea, a
*' quo et ars nomen accepit."

'' Polydorus Virgilius, lib. ii. cap. 13. Ita apud nos sexcenti
** sunt modi ludendi ad aleam : est enim alea onmis ferme ludus,
** qui in varietate fortunse consistit, ut sunt tesserae cum primis, et
'' CHARTiB . LUSORiiE, cum quibus qui se valde delectant, maxime
" <»Qnium semper egent/*

'' Sipontinus ad Praefat. Plinii. Alea dicitur omnis ludus magna
'*' ex parte in fortunes varietate consistens, sed proprie de tesseris
" dicitur^.

'^ Raderus, ad lib. xiv. ep. xii. Mart. Alba propria est hujus ludi,
'' quamvis de imni generatim ludo alejs dicatur, speciatim tamen
'* .tesser® convenit.''

, /^ Ita eoim Joh. Rauchbar, p. iL qusest. xxv. num. xxiii. Alea,
*^ inquit, omnes fortunse lusus tarn simplices, quam.mistos complec-
/' titur, ut sunt tesserarum^ talorum vel taxillorum, cuborum, «cru-
,"; porum, s^tragalorum, chartarum, vel fouorum, lutriculae (forte
/' latrunculorum), fritilli, equorum ligneorum."

4€

44
44
44

U
44

cnjLV. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDSL 75

The majority of these passages, it is evident, describes the word
ALEA as a generic term, applicable, by custom, to all games of fortune*.
But Zani unaccountably thought otherwise.

** From all these definitions," says that writer, " and from the
'^ many others diat I might in this place have quoted, it appears to
me, we may infer that the word alea, as used by all the authors
who wrote before playing-cards were known, signified no other
** than all sorts of games of dice, and more especially that game
Which we translate from the Greek, Aleossi. Because, if we were
to extend its meaning so as to include playing-cards, we might
then insist that they had been in use from the earliest period of
'^ ihe Christian mra, and even antecedent to it For Hartzheim (vol.i.
p. 131) makes us acquainted with a manuscript of the Canons of
the Apostles which was given by Pope Adrian tlie First to the
.^ King Charles, where, at cap. xlii. and xliii. are these words :

^^ Episcopus, aut Presbyter, aut Diaconus, alece atque ebrietati
^' deserviens, aut desinat, aut certe damnetur.

'* Subdiaconus, aut Lector, aut Cantor similia faciens, aut desinat,
*^ aut communione privetur. Similiter etiam Laicus/'

It is not easy to comprehend Zani's meaning in the above passage.
His inference is certainly a bad one ; for the early occurrence of the
term ^Ueop supposing it to have been used generically, could never be
brought in proof of the existence of any particular game, at any parti*
cular period ; any more than the ancient use of the words quadruped,
or tree, could be produced as evidence that any particular tree, or any
particular quadruped, was kno^n to the ancients. Zani proceeds :
The great improbability that cards were ever intended to be
comprehended in the simple term oka, being thus demonstrated, it
'* becomes fair to argue, that the silence of the Synods, the Councils,
and the Edicts of Princes, as well as that of cont^nporaneous
authors, respecting playing-cards (inasmuch as the said Synods, &c.
^^ prohibited so many other games), proves most amply that, in their
♦" time, they were not even invented; and that if they had been
•* invented^ and it was thought proper to prohibit them, they would

L 2

44
44

76 EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap. ii.

4€

have been distinguished by the nsufne by which they are called at

present, or by some other which might have characterized them,
*^ For, otherwise, how could those, who were addicted to play, have
'* known that cards were prohibited under the generic term alea?^^

Zani's assumed demonstration, as has been just now obsen'^ed, is
inadmissible. Did we however find that the early Councils were
constant in the specific mention of all the games of chance which they
intended to prohibit, their silence respecting cards, until so late as
1491, would be favorable to his subsequent argument? But this
does not appear to have been the case; and, consequently, hid
reasoning is far from being conclusive.

The word alea originally designated a particular game, which
was a game of chance. It aflerwards became a generic term, embracing
in its meaning all games, the result or success of which depended in a
greater or less degree on chance, and was thus used in the early Coundb.
In process of time, various other games of chance, different from
those at first practised, came to be invented, and amongst the retit
]?laying-Cards. Does it follow as a necessary, or as a probable con-
sequence, that because some of the newly invented games differed
in their manner from those games of chance which were at first
used, they should therefore be separately specified in the prohibitory
decrees of Councils and Princes, who, under the generic term aUa,
had been long accustomed to forbid all games of fortune ? Is it
likely, as Zani has imagined, that a gamester of the thirteenthi
fourteenth, or fifteenth century^ supposing^ cards to have been
then in use, could have been ignorant, that, under the term alea,
they were intended to be prohibited ? It may, indeed, be fairly con-
tended that the use of the term alea, in any early council, is not
sufficient to prove that cards were then known ; since the term was
undoubtedly used many centuries previous to the invention of cards^
but it does not follow that cards could not then have been known,
and intended to be prohibited under the term alea, because, as it wa»
a generic word, it might very properly have included cards within
its jneaninar.

POAP. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS.

The chief argument in favour of Zani's opinion/ that I am aware
of» (and^ were there nothing to oppose to it, it would jseem one of
ponsiderahle weight) is, that Cards were particularly specified in
the prohibitory decrees of later councils. But this argument becomes
a weak one, when, in addition to the many opposing documents in
favor of the antiquity of cards, given in the text, and others of the
^ame kind which could be brought forward, it is observed, that
although playing-cards are named in some of the later Councils,
they are not in ail : for we have seen them specifically prohibited
in the Synodus Bambergensis, 1491, and yet no mention is jnade
t>f them in the Synodus Varmiensis, in 1497*

When, in addition to such considerations^ we call to mind, that
.undoubted evidence exists of the general use of playing-cards
throughout many countries of Europe, long previous to 1^0,^ it .

* Jisrniefi, ** Origine de la Gravure/' torn* i.
jp^ 88, has the following note: ** Suivant
'' M. Neubronneri administrateur d Ulm, les
" archires de cette ville contieanent un an*
*^ cien maDuscrit sur vilin, appel£ le livre
^* rouge (a Uteris imtialibus rubrk) oil il y a
/' line defense de jouer aux cartes, -dat6e de

'' 1397."

Query : Can this be the Manuscript Chro-
nicle, completed in 1474, in which Heineken
'discovered a memorandum relating to the ex*
portatioQ of playing-cards i See p* SO*

^ohn L king of Castilei is said to have pro-
)iibited cards in 1 387. The authenticity of thb
document is questioned by Zani,{" Materially
p. 164, et seq.) but apparently upon insuffi-
cient grounds. Mr. Strutt (Sports and Pas-
.times, p. 285y £d edition) tells us^ on the
authority of Bullet, that *' the Provost of
PariSy Jan. 22, a. d. 1397^ published an
^ordinance, prohibiting the manufacturing part
^f the people from playing at tennb^ dice^
cards," 8ic. That .cards were known in

France prior lo 1400, is, indeed, acknow-
ledged by Zani himself; who cites a passage
from the Sermons of Frere Oliviero Maillard
(lions, 1498), " Vldetis quod habetb in sta-
*^ tutis vestris : nunquid anno miUesimo qua--
'' dringeKtenmofuit prohibitum quod omnes
'^ ludi chartarum/* Sic &c.

Zani ('' Materiali, ^'p, 155) seems incredu-
lous concerning the existence of the book called
9ei^ gulden &pitU mentioned by Heineken,
and said to be printed by Gunther Zainer at
Augsburg, in 1472 or 78, m which cards are
said to have been introduced into Germany in
the year 1300 ; and, indeed, if such an ancient
printed book does exist, containing a passage
respecting German playing-cards, it is of itself
.sufficient to overturn his system. That ic does
however ewt, there can be little ground of
doubt, since Heineken cited the original pas-
sage in the German, and mentioned the name
of the printer ; and the passage was also, as
jsre have seen, cited by Jansen, a more recent
•author; with the additioneU intelligence, that

78 EAULY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap, n:

will not, I diink, be going too far to conclude, that cards might have
been intended to be prohibited, with other games of dfiance, bjr the
early German Councils, under the generic term oka ; and, at leasts
that their not being mentioned by a Council of any particular
period, is no evidence that they were not then known^

But, independent of the probability that the early Councils might
have intended the prohibition of cards under the generic term €Uea,
other arguments, accounting, in some degree, for their silence re-
i^)ecting cards, may be adduced. There is reason to believe, as
has already been suggested, (see note, p. 67) that, at first, they were
considered as an innocent diversion; .and it is also probable, that
for some time after they had begun to degenerate into a means of
gambling, especially confined, perhaps, to the higher classes of
society, they might escape ecclesiastical censure.

Cards, as is well known, are, in Spain, termed naipes ; by which
name, with the alteration only of the p into a b, they were also
anciently known in Italy ; although in this latter country they were
likewise called carte. It would appear firom the following passage
in the *' Cronica del Giovanni Morelli,*' of the year 1393, that as late
aa that period the Italians considered cards in the light of an innocent
and childish amusement : 'f Non giuocare a Zara, n^ ad altro giuoco
'^ di dadi, fa de' giuochi che usano i fanciuUi ; agli aliossi, alia trottola,
" a* ferri, a' naibi, etc. — Not to play at hazard, or at other games of
^' dice, but at such plays as are used by children, as cockle-shelli^
^* tops, ferri (I know not what this game was), cards,'* &c,*

But after the year 1400 they began to be considered no longer so^
and were severely censured by S. Bernardino ; who>in his forty-second

die book was printed at An^jiburg, and the ItaKan cards. It is, however, qiute as pro-
alteration of its date (peihaps a correction), bable that diey were the manufacture of Ger-
from 1472 to 1478. many or the Low Countries.

Ab to the foreign cards, the importation of * MorelU was bom in 1S7 1, and began to

which into England, was prohibited under write bis work in ISQS, It was printed at

Edward the Fourth, I am aware that it is possi* Florence m 1718. The passage cited is at

ble th^ might have been French, Spanish^ or p. S70* Zani, p. 18^

4^
€4
44

CEAW. iL^ EARLY USE OF PLAYING CABITO: «|

SermoDf ^^ contra Alearum Ludos/' (artic. iii. cap« 11,) says: ^^ £t

^ idem est judidum sicut de tabulairiis, ita etiam de tabellis

taxillis taxillorum Terti® autem participantes

sunt qui fiunt participes ex naibis seu cartkeUis, de quibus innu^^
merabilia mala egrediuntur ;'' and at cap. iii. he repeats, *' Sed

^^ etiam contra omnes tabularia, taxillos, et carticeUas sicut

i^ sunt tabularia, taxilli, et carticelUe, sice naUn/'

Saint Antonino, archbishop of Florence, who was bom in 1389^
and died in \A59f also speaks of cards as no longer amongst the
amusements of children, although he is not quite so severe in his
expressions respecting them as S. Bernardino. After mentioning
games of hazard, he says> ^^ £t idem videtur de chartis^ vel naibis,
^ quamvis sit ibi aliquid industrioe, principaliter tamen est fortunsc.
^. Ludus autem scaccorum non est fortunse ; sed industrise."'^
'Upon the whole, it appears probable that, although cards had
been long before known in Italy, as well as in other parts of
Europe, they did not come into general use, as afft>rding the means
of amusement and gambling to grown persons, until after the year
1400. Although even this datum must be taken in a limited sense ;
since card-playing appears to have prevailed sooner in some coun-
tries than in others. But to return to the subject of engraving on
wood.

I have already expressed the opinion that wood engraving was
first introduced into Europe by the Venetians ; that the latter got this
art from China ; and that, in the course of the commerce which took
place between Venice and the continent of Europe, the art gradually
became known. I have also argued from the decree of the govem-

* * These two passages from the writing of thdr use. I have no ''doubt that my friend
S. Bemardmo and S. Antomno will be found Mr. Sfaiger, in his treatise on this subject,

in 2am (pp. 171 and 177)> who has, indeed, will know how to turn these documents

collected together a prodigious number of (which Zani has thrown together, and left

fiassages, from old as wdl as modem writeti, in the' sbi^ of maitriab) to their propeif

relative to cai^ds; without, howenrer, com* account*
ivg to. any conclusioD as to the autiqaity of

WOOD ENGRAVING IN GERMANY [chap, ir.

ment of Venice^ dated 1441, that, some time prior to that period, it
had been improved by the artists of other parts^ who, as we have
seen,, became, in their turn, exporters of playing-cards and other
wood-prints.

The inhabitants of Germany and the Low Countries appear more
especially to have devoted themselves with eagerness to the prac-
tice of this art ; their productions in which, it is probable, began to
constitute a branch of their commerce soon after the year 1400.*

If we may believe Heineken, who quotes the authority of an
ancient Chronicle in manuscript, which he found at Ulm, '^ they
^^ used to send their playing-cards in large bales, as well into Italy,

as to Sicily and other parts, by sea, receiving in return for them

spices and other merchandize." -|* The term kartenmacher, or
card-maker, is mentioned in the Burger-buche of Augsburg, in
1418;:^ and in that of Nurenberg, in 1433 and 1438 ;§ and certain
it is, that, from the commencement of the fifteenth century, it is
a more easy task to trace the history and progress of wood-engteving

€€

* So we may fairly infer from the Venetian
decree, if the supposition be admitted, that
f ome of the foreign wood engravings which it
prohibited were the productions of Germany,
or the Jiow Qountrjes^

f Heineken quotes the words in the Ger-
man {Idie Generak, p. 245), but without
informing us of the date of the manuscript,
or of the period to which the passage refers.

In his B^e B^^U^tm (17S6)| p. 139,
be ia more explicit : for, besides again quoting
the original passage (although with some slight
Verbal alteration ; and) consequently, we may
presume, with more accuracy), he informs us
diat it is found in an old Chronicle, finidied
IB 1474, preserved m die libraiy of the Stadt-
house of Ulm. ^n btc ^tattbihlinti)^ jn
nam tanii iO) tint Cfjctmike m ;6taM Wm fn
Mmn^ttiftt, m am €nit «ste{)t: Gbobg

Zruv, compIcTit hoc opus 1474, Ultb tltltet i^^

itttbnii :

€1)ttcttn AjfixlfltmbtL

^it Afitl Ci)arten inurDen ItiltnWi^t

(iifijt iift in Ktttm faf^ttn) in 3|talien, ;6in^

lien, aiKi) uber Mttt ge^c^tekt, ttgm Apt*

ttttn unii anbtre a^aartn ber^tacjben, inoraaif

tit Mtnit btt Cbartenmac|)er» fn ^iti) i)itt

antgel)a(ten, eAjnntj)mtn ifU

Tlie above memorandum bdng writtes
(perhaps after the book was completed) under
the Rubrick, it is impossible to determine to
what period it relates.

% Brietkopf, '< llrs^prttns bet ;6pieniarten''

-— fi Thiel. It is remarkable that the earliest
mention of the term '' Kartenmacher*' in Ger*
many, is found in the records of Ihe city of
Augsburgj which was one of the prmcipai
depoU of ihe ancient Fenetian merchants*
\ Heineken, Btttt M^ti/tU^ttn, p. 138.

CHAP. II.] AND THE LOW COUNTRIES. 8i

in those countries^ by a reference jto existing monuments of its early:
use; preserved in the libraries of old monasteries, and the cabinets of
the curious, than' in Italy, where there is reason to believe the art
Vais not prosecuted with eqiial diligence, and, cohsequently, did not
attain that perfection which might ensure to it the same encourage*
ment and general regard.

' '* The artists who engraved in wood,'^ says Heineken, ^' were
termed, in Germany^ Formschneider, (cutters of moulds) an ap-
pellation by which they are still known. But they no longer form
a' separate body as they did anciently, and are now very much
neglected, inconsequence of the decided preference which has
so long been given to engravings on copper. . t

The method adopted in printing wood engravings of saints and
other subjects," continues Heineken, ** was anciently the same
as that used in the manufacture of cards.' After the engraved
block was charged with the black tint, a sheet of paper was lai^
upon it, which was damped,* that it might the more easily attach
'^ itself to the block ; the friction of a rubber, made of hair, * or of
pieces of cloth, was then applied to the paper, which was thus
1 rubbed backwards and forwards till the impression of the engraving
** was transferred to the paper. The traces of this operation will
readily be discovered by any person who examines our ancient
^•wood-prints, and the old books' of devotional representations
printed only on one side of the leaf; the back of the paper being
generally found polished, and sometimes soiled by the process of
rubbing off the impression.

Besides these engraved blocks, the manufacturers of cards em-
ployed thin plates of metal cut into holes, to guide them in finish-
ing their cards with'colours. Of these patterns or stensils it wa^
necessary for them to have several, according to the number of
the colours which the figures on their cards required. This," says

i€

€€

4€

- 44

*
44

44
44

I ■
44

4€

* I htTe given my reasons for being of this mode of printing wood engravings, in a
opmioa that the paper was often used dry in note at p. 34.

82 WOOD ENGRAVING IN GERMANY [chap* ii.

Heineken^ (desirous to support the hypothesis that wood engraTing
owes its origin to cards) '^ naturally gave rise to the practice of
^^ illuminating wood-prints of other kinds^ of which we so often find
^' examples in our ancient books :" as if the origin of the custom of
colouring prints of all sorts, might not, with equal verisimilitude,
be traced to the illuminations in ancient manuscripts. ^* These
" colourers/' continues he, " formed abo a distinct body, under
" the appellation of Bsiefmaler (painters of cards)."*

Jost Ammon, in the cuts which he executed for the well known
book of Arts and Trades, published in 1564, has represented amongst
the rest, the figure and employment of the Farmschneider, or en*
graver in wood ; and separately, the figure and occupation of the
Brieftnakr, or painter of cards ; — treating them as distinct trades :
but Merian, who inserted the same figures of Jost Ammon in the
German translation of Garzani, Piazza Unkersak, published at
Francfort, in 4to. in 1649, has employed the figure of the Briefmakr,
to represent the card-maker, because in his time the person who
painted the cards, and had formerly been termed Briefmaler, was
known by the appellation of Kartenmacher.f

The same persons who manufactured cards, says Heineken, sold
also the prints of saints ; fi'om which kind of traffic they had the bet-
ter reason to expect good profits, as the devotion of the people of
Germany for the images of saints, was excessive during the four*
teenth and at the commencement of the fifteenth century ; and as
the clergy distributed such pieces amongst the populace upon all
occasions.

The above writer saw in the library of Wolfenbilttel several prints
of this kind, " representing stories of sacred writ and other devo-
*' tional subjects, with some text opposite to the figures ; the whole

* Idie G6nerale, pp. 243, M4. employment it was to illumine plajing-cvds

f Id£e G^nirale, p. 244. There is some as well as other wood-prints, but that, after*

obscurity in this passage, in the original, wards, the Briefmaler and the Kartenmacher,

Jleineken^ meaning, I believe, was, that or manufacturer of playing-cards, becapue

anciently, the Briefmaler was a person whose two distinct trades.

CHAP. II.] AND THE LOW COUNTRIES. aft

*' engraved in wood. These pieces/' says he, ^' are of the same
" dimensions as our playing-cards : they measure three inches and
a quarter in height, by two inches and a half in width. There
are also, in the same library, at the end of the book intitled An
f* Mofiendi, five prints, in which are engraved divers figures of
'' angels, devils, dying persons, saints, &c. similar to our playing-
^^ cards, and of the same size^-^each figure being marked with a let«*
'* ter of the alphabet"*

The dimensions of the prints which Heineken here describes^
iumished, in his opinion, a strong evidence that they had been made
in imitation of cards ; — ^that cards had been their prototype. Now^
if I can judge firom his account of them, the first of these engravings
must have been printed on paper of a duodecimo si2e,v and theik
doubled; for each devout representation had some text facing,
h, alluding^ no doubt, to it» subject: so that the resemblance
between these prints and playing-cards could not, afi[» all, have
been very great The five prints which he found at the end of the
An Manendi were, each of them, marked with a letter of the
alphabet — no doubt a proof that they were part of a set Now, in
another part of his book he informs us ^' that playing cards were
'^ termed in Germany, fitieft — ^letters, {qnstola) and that they
are so called to this day. The common people do not say, give
me a game or a pack of cards, but a irpiA IMtft, (a game or a
^^ pack of letters) or I want a card, but I want tin IMtk^ that is, I
^^ want a letter/'f This observation is used by Heineken to shew
that the Germans did not get their playing-cards firom the French ;
'• for if we had had them originally from France,'' says he, " they
" would have retained the same name with us by which they were
^' anciently known and are still called in France."

But I must observe that whatever weight this remark may be en-
titled to, as fiutnishing an argument to prove that the Germans did
not get their cards firom France, it is very far fi'om assisting to
support its writer's hypothesis, that the use of cards gave rise to

• Id^ G^^nde, p. £49. t Ibid. p. £40.

M 2

44
44

WOOD ENGRAVING IN GERMANY [chap. ii.

the invention of engraving in wood, and the subsequent appli-
tation of that art to the manufacture of the images of saints, and
other devotional pieces ; since we might more reasonably conjecture
from it, that the persons who manuf$ictured and sold these prints of
saints^ &c. each accompanied with some short inscription, or marked
with a letter of the alphabet, were, on that account, termed Bnef^
makr (painters of letters — epistola) than that they were so called
becatfse they manufactured cards, which in their nature bear no ana-
^ logy to letters whatever.

It is therefore probable that the term Briefinaler was used in Ger-
many before playing-cards, such as are now used, were known in
that country ;. and applied to denominate those artizans who manu-
factured these . sets of. coloured images of saints and other religious
subjects, accompanied, perhaps, . by short admonitory sentences*
And, if the rage for holy mysteries and religious games, so general
throughout Europe in the centuries which preceded the Reformation,
be considered, it will not be a very extravagant stretch of conjecture
to suppose, that, in early times, a set of those devout, representations,
accompanied by inscriptions, and marked with the letters of the
alphabet, might even have been termed a Spiel Briefe,* or a game

. * Since writiiig the above, I have been
favored b; Mr. Singer with a passage ex-
tracted from ^ writer of die sixteenth cen-
tury, by which it appears that, even as late
as that period, sets of prints, such as I have
described, (though others seem to have been
of profane subjects) continued to be manu-
factured and sold under the appellation of
cards; although playii^-cards, such as are
n6w used, had long before become common.
** Charts lusoriae variis in locis impresse,
elegantissime, aut Parisiis a|>ud Wechelium
cum sententiis veterum poetarum: et alise
cum rythmis Gallicis ; et alias in Germania
cum sententiis Biblicb Ungua vemacula."— -

Pandeciarum seu Partitionum l/nivena"
Uum, CoNRADi Gbsnbri. Tiguri 1548.
foL Titulus xii. de Grammatical foL 17.
• Gesner's book is little other than an index to
books which treat upon general subjects. Th$
above passage, for example,' is the only one
on cards, and is given without any comment.
Tlie reader, indeed, is referred to LudovicuM
Fives, who, in his dialogue called ^* Ludus
Chartarum seu Faliarum/' p. 48, edit. Basil,
1555, gives a short account of Spanish and
French packs of cards, but says nothiqg of
their origin.

A further anjument in support of my hy-
pothesis, has been furnished by my friend,

CHAP. II.]

AND THE LOW COUNTRIES.

or pack of letters ; and used, perhaps, as a devout recreation, in a
way not very dissimilar from that in which cards appear to have
been used upon their first introduction into Europe ; — ^that is, with*
out any relation to gambling.

The persons whose occupation it had been to fabricate these sets
of devout images, were of course the best fitted to execute and ma-
nufacture any other sorts of work that required the same process ;
playing*cards being afterwards introduced into Germany, they
would, therefore, presently apply themselves to the manufistctory of
them ; still, however, retaining the appellation of Briefinaler (paint*
ers of letters) by which they had been originally designated ; and in
like manner these new productions might be termed Spiel Briefe, be-
cause they were packages or sets of coloured prints, issuing firom
the workshop of the Briefmaler.*

Mr. Foseli, an artist whose elevated and
powerfvl genius is no less honorable to
Switzerland which gave it birth, than the
example of his works, and the eloquence of
his di^urses, have proved beneficial td^flie
arts in the country which he has adopted.
** In the vulgar tongue of Zuric," says Mr.
Fuseliy '' and still more in ' that of the
'< Roman Catholic Cantons of Switaerland>
i* ffe/gm' which is a corruption of HeUigen
f< — holy — saints — ^is used todenote a figured
^' print — Esiampe, The reason for. this is
^' evident — the first prints represented the
f' figures of saints or other devotional. suh;
^'jectSy and were, on that account, termed
5' Hdgen; the term, in process of time,
** became generic, and is now, used to . d^
*^ note prints of any kind, even of the most
^ {NDfane. subjects.'^

I was not aware, when I framed |he aboye
hypothesis, that such evidence could be
brought forward in its support.

*. Nevertheless, if I may depend upon
Heineken '' jfteue B^^titi)ttn/' p* 138, no
mention of the term Briefmaler is found in
the old German^Chronicles, so early as there is
of the term Karienmaeher. Still that writer
insists, and Brieikogf, he says, ia of the same
opinion, diat the term Briefe ia more ancient
than that of Karten, cards. The term Kar^'
tenmacher, as has ahready.been observed,
occurs in 1418, in the Bui^erbuche of Augs-
burgh.

Heineken aigues '* that all writings . in
'' which the term Karienmaeher or Karten^
f' maler is found, are more modem than the
<f invention of printed playing-cards, in .Ger*
f < many ;'\(here, no doubt, he means to infer^
that tliough the Italians first introduced the
pse of cards, the Germans first discovered
the .art' of engraving and printing them)
f' and .if,** says, he, '' you find mention, in
'^ the city books of Nuremberg, in 143S, of
'^ a Kartemnacherin, and, in 143S, of a

WOOD PRINT OF ST. BRIDGET.

[chap. II,

Here^ then, is an hypothesis which appears to be full as w^U
supported by evidence, and as jreasonable as that of Heineken.
It is, however, but an hypothesis, and may require further proof.
If true, it necessarily carries back the art of engraving in wood,
in Germany and the Low Countries, to a much earlier epoch than
that from which the German writers have hitherto been accustomed
to date its origin ; and they will consequently pardon me for having
suggested it.

Besides these small cuts, however, the old artists of Germany
and the Low Countries engraved devotional subjects of larger di-
mensions. One of these, bearing every mark of high antiquity, I
am enabled to present to the reader, by favour of the Right Hon.
the Earl Spencer, K. G. who possesses tiie original, and has most
obligingly permitted it to be copied for the present work.

B;^ the inscription over the head of the figure, which is neverthe-
less, in part, unintelligible, being a good deal rubbed, we discover
that it was intended to represent St. Bridget, who is seated writing.
The figure evinces itself the work of an artist of no mean talents :

'^ Kartenmakrin, (whereas yon do not find
** mention of a Brie/malerf until 1477,) it
^ otAj proves that printed playiog-^ards, or
'' Brirfcj were invent^ before 1433, and
** that already, in 1433, they were known in
** Germany by the name of Karten, cards ;
'' but that, towards the year 1477, the pro-
'' fession of Kariemnacker had become se-
** parated from that of the Briefmaler, or
^' illummist of wood-prints in general."— »-
^'Tlie word Karttn^ he says, ''is de^
'' rived from the word Cartone, and owes its
^* introducdon to the commerce of the Ger«
'' mans with Italy."

, ** Pkying^cards," Heineken agam observes,
** are still called by the anciost term, Briefer
'' in some provinces, and especially in country-
^' phces.''

The above passm;e, if I may be allowed
to interpret it in my own way, will be found
rather confirmatory than otherwise of die
hypodiesis in the text

I suppose that the better informed chsses
of the community discovered, before 1433,
d»t the ancient term Brirft was, by no
means, an appropriate appellation for playing-
cards, mch as were then in vse; and very
properly changed it for the foreign name,
Kanfm— cards — ^to distinguish cards from
other prints ; especially those of sacred images ;
whereas the common people satisfied them-
selves with calling them by their old name,
little mindful of its etymology; and never
considering that their Spiei Briefe vrere no
loqger what thqr had been.

^ .

CHAF. II.]

WOOD PRINT OF ST. BRIDGET.

the proportions are good ; the attitude is easy and natural ; and the
folds of the drapery are marked with intelligence, and well cast.
The fitce and hands are expressed with few lines, but in a masterly
manner. On the other hand, the total absence of every principle
of perspective, in the bench upon which St. Bridget is seated, and
the desk which supports her book, is very remaritable ; and gives to
the entire composition an effect not very unlike that of the figures
of the Evangelists, sometimes found in manuscripts of the very early
centuries.^

Upon the whole, I am inclined to consider this engraving as the
production of an artist of the Low Countries, (where a better style
of art prevailed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, than was
common, in those times, in Germany,) and of a date not later than
the close of the fourteenth century : since, after that period, an
artist, who was capable of designing so good a figure, could scarcely
have been so grossly ignorant of every effect of linear perspective,
as was evidently the case with the author of the performance be-
fore U8.f

The impression appears to have been taken off, with a light tint

^ It has, by tbe bye, a good deal of re-
•emblance to the Greek drawing of St.
Lukei engraved in my '' Italian School of
Design.''

f I shall leave the partisans of Lawrence
Janasoon, or Coster, to make what they can
of the armorial bearings introduced in one
comer of this ancient engraving* Lawrence
bore the Same armsi but with the addition of
a bar of bastardy and a lambel, u appears
by his seid given in Meerman. The lion in
Ae print of St Bridget is tinted yellow, and
half the shield (that part of it wluch is under
the animal's feet and belly) is of a daiic crim*
son: but I think no condusioo u to the
proper blazoning of the arms, can be drawn

from this circumstance; u the print appeitfs
to have been coloured without the smallest
degree of care.

*^ Ces armoiriesy'^says Jansen, ** de I'ln vention
de rimprimerie,''(p. 63.) speaking of Coster's
seal, of which he abo has given a copy, ^* qui
sont celles de la famille du fils prAni d'un des
premiers comtes de Hollande, ont txi port^es
par quelques-nnes des plus illustres maisons
de ce pays, telles que celle de Brederode, dt
Teylingen, de Langerack, de Soutelaode, et
de Warmont," &c« It is possible that the
same arms might have been borne by some
town or monasteiy in the Low Countries,
Vflicre the print, periiaps, was published.

WOOD PRINT AT LYONS, DATED 1384. [chap. ii.

in distemper, by means of friction, in the manner already described,
and was afterwards rudely daubed over with a few gay colours;
which were hot, I think, laid on by means of stensils^ such as, it is
supposed,' were used in painting cards, but by the hand. These
colours, as they very much obscure the merit of the original prini^
are omitted in the copy.* . ,r<

' If we can depend upon the correctness of M. Thiery,f the library
of the academy at Lyons possesses a print, pasted into a folio Volume,
entitled '* La Legende Doree,'' at the bottom of which is inscribed
ScHOTiNG of Nuremberg, with the date 1384. He adds, that an-
other engraving, still more ancient, is preserved in the library of
the Vatican at Rome. '

r Of the more aiicient print in the Vatican I have no account, and
I am obliged to add, that I find no mention of the Niiremberg print
ot 1384, in the recent French writers on the subject of engraving.
Perhaps they discovered, upon examination, that what Thiery took
for a 3, was in reality a figure of 4, or even a 5. But it is very
possible that the Parisian authors may not have been at the trouble
to visit Lyons for the purpose, and that the date may be genuine.
This, I much hope, may prove, to be the case ; as we are, it must
be confessed, greatly in want of documents with which to fill up
the chasm between the epoch of the two Cunio, and that of the

* Hie hce and htnds are lif^tlj tinted
with flerii colour. - The hat and the wallet,
supported upon the pilgrim's staff, and the
drapery of St Bridget (except the veil upon
her heady part of which is black, and there-
niiainder, with the' thin drapery folded round
her throat; white) are of a tint similar to that
of soot' diluted with much water. The bench
upon which St. Bridget is seated, and the
desk, the staff, the letters S. P. Q; R. the
glories round ^the head of thesaint, and:tho0e
round the Viigm and Child,*the lion in the

coat of arms and the crown, are tinted a
bright yellow. The ground b coloured with
▼erdigrease. The last part of the operation
of the illuminist, appears to have been that
of giving what he, no doubt, considered a
few masterly touches, with a sort of lake,
mixed with a large proportion of gum, which
has occasioned those parts to have a shining
appearance. The broad border round the
print is of this colour. ' -
.: f « Guide des Amateurs, &«• i Paris,**
1787. pp. 427, 428.

CBAP, II.] WOOD PRINT OF ST, CHRISTOPHER, A. D. 1423. 80

decree of the government of Venice, For although the retrospec-
tive allusions of that decree render it evidence that the art of wood
engraving had been practised at Venice very long previous to its
date ; still, for the sake of those who will not be satisfied with any
thing short of a due array of stubborn and incontrov^iible proof^
I would gladly be enabled to produce other monuments of its
ancient use: and I cannot conceal nly surprise that Zani, who
argued in favour of the authenticity of the account of the two
Cunioy should not have perceived, that by endeavouring, as he did,
•to throw doubt upon almost all other early records of wood en-
graving, he was doing all in his power to render that account the
more difficult of belief

The earliest print, bearing a date, of the existence of which we
have at present any certain knowledge, was discovered by H^neken ;
who thus described it in his writings : '* I found," says he, ^ in the
'' Chartreuse at Buxheim, near Memmingen, one of the most an-
" cient convents in Germany, a print of * Saint Christopher carry-
" ing the infant Jesus across the sea */ opposite to him is the hermit
holding up his lantern to give him light i and behind is a
peasant, seen in a back view, canying a sack, and climbing the
ascent of a steep mountain. This piece is of a folio size, and
coloured in the manner of ovr playing*cards ; at the bottom of it
is this inscription :

'' CtistOBni fiuinn We ftttttatiuitie tnertt.

44
44
44
44
44

'* At least," continues Heineken, ** we know from this piece,
with certainty, that the figures of saints, and, alsfo^ letters, were
engraved in 1423. Nor can any fraud be suspected in this in*?
'^ stance. The print is pasted within the cover of an old book of
'^ the fifteenth century.'' ^< Some one of the ancient monks of

90 "WOOD PRINTS OF ST. CHRISTOPHER {chap. ii.

*^ the convent perhaps- desired to preserve it, and at that time no
^' one troubled himself about the Antiquity of Engravings or dis-
'* puted upon the- question."*

It was due to Heineken that I should describe this most interest-
ing specimen of early wood engraving in his own words ; since, but
for his research, it. might have continued to lie unnoticed in the
convent of Buxheim, perhaps, for centuries to come. It has now
found an asylum worthy of so precious and rare a document, in the
splendid library of Earl Spencer, where it is preserved in the same
state in which Heineken discovered it, pasted in the inside of one
of the covers of a manuscript in the Latin language,^ of the year
1417. Lord Spencer, with a liberality for which he is eminently
distinguished, has permitted it to' be faithfully copied, of the same
dimensions as the original, for the present work; and the reader
will therefore be a competent judge of its merits,^-except as respects
the colours, * with which, like the last described print, it was tinted
$tfter printing, and which it has been judged proper to omit, that its
true pretensions, as a work ofengraving, may the better appear.

I ^hall say but a few words concerning this engraving, as a work
of art.' The principal group is composed with dignity ; and, indeed,
as respects its arrangement, is not inferior to many pictures of the
same subject, executed by esteemed artists of later times. The
reciprocity between St. Christopher and the sacred infant, is well
conceived ; the head of the saint is expressive ; and the drapery,
floating over his shoulder, is folded, in a grand style! But the ex-
trinities, and some other parts of the figures, are so defective in
point of drawing, as to give reason to suspect that the artist, who

• " Idfc G6ii6ra]e/' p. «50. the print of " The Annunciation/' in the same

t The MS. is entitled ^'LausVirginis.'' volume; both of the dimensions of the on-

See Afr. Dibdin^s ^' Bibliotfaeca Spenceri- ginals, and accurately executed. A bad copy

ana/' vol. i.'p. iv. Mr. Dibdin has given a of the' print of ** St. Christopher" is intro-

faC'Umile, of the group of jS^. Christopher duced in Jansen's work so often cited, copied^

and the Childf and another of the Angel, in I believe, from one made by De Murr.

4 i

■i

f -V

• «.

• ■

.' /^

li*-»'-f *■ it :

CHAP. II.] AND THE ANNUNCIATION, A. D. 1423. 91

prepared the design from which the print was immediately en-
graved, had no part in the invention of the piece ; except that of
introducing the fish under the feet of the saint, the diminutive mill
ih the fore-ground, and the other accessories ; • all" of them so far
beneath criticism, that one would almost suppose it had been his
Intention, by surrounding St. Christopher with such absurdities, ■ to
bring the saint into disrepute.

' Within the other cover of the same manuscript, another wood-
print is pasted, representing " The Annunciation of the Virgin."
It is undoubtedly the production of the same artist who' engraved
the St Christophef, although being free from some of the above
defects, it is a more agreeable print. The subject did notreqiiir^
the introduction of naked limbs, which the best painters of those
times were but ill qualified to design ; whereas it allowed fuller scope
to the artist's abilities in casting drapery, — a part of the art with the
principles of which even the most inferior designers of the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries were not unacquainted. Both these prints
were, I thinks originally printed on the same paper ; which was
probably intended to be folded, and inserted in that state in a book
of devotion ; when, as was the case with the ancient Dypiici^ and
many of the small portable altar-pictures of those times, the two
subjects would have faced each other. They are of the same
height,, and very nearly of an equal breadth; are printed upon
a paper rather thick than otherwise, with black oil-colour,- or what
is commonly termed printing-ink, and are tinted, (apparently at the
time), with precisely the same colours. .

It is fiirther remarkable, that these prints shew no signs of having
been taken off, like the St. Bridget, by means of friction, but were
evidently printed with a press.

. In this respect, and in the black ink with which they are printed,
they differ from all the very early wood-prints of Germany, or the
Netherlands, that I am acquainted with; these latter (I speak
more especially of the ancient block-books) being taken off with a
brownish tint, .apparently in distemper, by means of fi'iction.

99^

WOOD PRINTS OF ST. CHRISTOPHER [chap, lu

The inventioii of ike press has been comtn^y considered con-r
temporary with the invention of typography ; because we find no
instance m which it appean to have been used, in G^many* or the
Low Countries^ previous to its application for the purpose of print*
ing moveable characters. A proper black ink for printing mBde its
appearance in Germany simultaneously with the introduction of
the press ; and the first Bible that issued fixmi the press of Gutten*
berg, ^ Mentz, soon after 1450, is printed with ink, which, for
blackness aad consistency, has never beoi since surpassed.

Here, however, are two ^pecimois of engraved wooden blocks
executed in 1423 — ^for there appears no ground whatever to dispute
the date — and printed with black printing-ink, and a press.

I am aware that it is possible, notwithstanding the blocks w^re
engraved in 1423, that the impressions might have been taken
off some thirty or forty years afterwards : * but this is certainly not
very probable. I am rathw inclined to be of opinicm, that although
neither the press, nor a black oil-colour, were used for printing wood
engravings in Germany, or the Netherlands, at so early a period,
they might have been elsewh^e^

What if these two prints should prove to be — not the productions
of Germany, but rather of Venice, or of some district of the territory
then under the dominion of that republic ?

It may be remembered that the decree of Venice of 1441, speaks
of such figures as being absolutely printed ^' Carte e figure staimk

* I know of no certain apecimen of wood
engrevmg, printed with a press, and black
printing-ink, in Germany or the Low Coun-.
tries, prior to the years 1461 and 1462.

Of the first date, there exists, in the libraiy
of Wolfenbttttel, a book of fables, illastrated
by a hundred and two wood-cuts, which was
printed at Bamberg, by Albrecht Pfister. It
is mentioned by Heineken (« Id^e Gin^rale,''
p. 275), who has given a copy of one of the
prints.

Another work of the same printer, also
decorated with wood engravings (if, indeed,
such miserable designs can properly be
termed decorations), is in the possession of
Lord Spencer, and villi be found described
in the first volume of J(fr. DibcUn*9 ** Diblio-
theca Spenceriana," It is known by the name
of ** The Histories of Joseph, Daniel, Ju-
dith, and Esther,^ is dated 1462, and is a
book of such extreme nirity, that only one
other copy of it is known.

CHAP. 11.3 AND THE ANNUNCIATION, A. D. 1428.

HDE che si fanno in V«»ezia." It is true the decree applies the satnd
ler mto the cards and other wood«^cuts whidi were imported frosi
other parts ; but this would naturally occur : as those who fram^
the decree cannot be supposed to have examined the backs of such
prints as came from Fland^*s, Germany^ or other parts, that they might
^stinguish whether they were taken off by friction^ or in the mannei^
practised in Venice^ by means of a press. It was sufficient that th6
Venetians saw a great number of wood-cuts of foreign manuiacture^
which operated to the detriment of their own artists ; ^be di£Ksr^t
process by which they might have been executed was a matter of
no importance, and it is probable was nerer noticed by them.

This aiident nae of the word prated (stampide), in the Venetian
decree, did not escape the notice of Heineken. *^ Printing/' says he^
'* was not yet known, and yet the word printing was used.'** I wish
that writer had informed us whether the word printing was in use
at so early a period m Gemiaay. I am inclined to tlunk it was
notf

Nevertheless, as these prints were found in Germany ,|; I should not
have suggested a doubt that they were the productions of any other

^ IcKe, kc. p. fi46.

i' Heineken, after deBoribbg nt edhioii of
tbe Block-book, esHed the Book of Jnii-
CArisi, ^ Idbe Gfo6rale,''p. $92, says : '' i h
^ fin de «e teste I'iditeiir dit : 9n 3|ntl9^

«' i)mn$f pciffinaler Imt tto^ put!) f u §mta^

'' btrSt 1472. Le Jumghamm jfemire de
'* carteM a ee Here i NunnUmrg m 1472,
** mm tfoir i^oat£, «?il a desmA, ougravi,
** 00 seolemeiit impntnd'cet oivm^e.^

An edidon of tbe Jlr$ Mwimdi^ memioned
hg Heineken ^p. 421), ends with « ainiilar
cnbpbon:

147%

pni&moto*

^I doubt iwhedier die term piintuig v9%b used
in Germany or die Netherianda until after the
e^tabUabment of typograpby.

% Buxbeim, however, it may be wortb re*
marking, ia at no great distance from Augs-
buig; which, ilk tbe fifteenth centuiy, and
some centuries earlier, was one of die great
depots of the Venetian merdumts, through
which, by iand-carriage, they furnished the
southern parts of Germany widi the name-
tous articles of their commerce and manufac-
ture. A print of this age, beii^ found in
Germany, is, therefore, by no means a cer-^
tain proof that it is of German manuiacture.
See BettintUi ''Risorgittieotod'Italia,'*tom.ii.
pp. 284. 301.

WOOD PRINTS OF ST. CHRISTOPHER [chap. ii.

than the German school, were it not that the print of the Annum
ciation, especially, bears so striking a resemblance to the style of th6
old. Italian schools as, of itself, to furnish a very strong ground for
such an opinion.

: Those who are acquainted with the style of art which, founded by
Giotto, and promulgated by his school, prevailed more or less
tltCQUghout Italy, from the .beginning of the fourteenth until towards
thjB middle of the fifteenth century, will, I think, discover this simi-
litude in the general arrangement of the composition— the simplicity
and lightness of the architecture, with unomamented circular archies,
supported by a single slender pillar, and pilasters— -the graceful
attitude of the Virgin — and especially her drapery, which, wholly
pnlike the angular sharpness, the stifihess, and the flutter of the
^cient German school, is divided into a few easy folds, by lines of
gentle curyature.* * ' ^

: . After all I may possibly be mistaken in my opinion ; f and lest.

* The upper comer of this print, on the
left, where, no doubt, the figure of God the
Father miu introduced, has been torn of; pro-
bably by some Iconoclast of the siiteenth
century*

f Let the amateurs of Venice, and other
parts of Italy, search the libraries .of their
ancient convents : perhaps specimens of early
Italian xylography, subject. to^no such doubt,
may still be found. Meanwhile I feel myself
justified in assuring the reader that Ihave
not, hitherto, discovered any thing which
militates against the opinion given in the text
The characters in the inscriptions on these
two prints are, it is true, what are commonly
called German, or bhck-letter ; but such
characters as^Lanzi observes ('^ Storia Pit'
tarica,*' tom. i. p. 34^— 92), . prevailed very
generally throughout Italy, and more especi-

ally in the inscription on pictures, 8cc. until
towards the middle of the fifteenth century.
I have now before me a faC'dmUe of the
inscription on the monument of Francnco
de Flore, a Venetian painter (the father' of
JacobeOo del Flare, also a painter), dated
.1435, in Gothic or semi-gothic . characters.
Unfortunately, it is all written in capitals;
whereas the inscriptions on the two prints
before us are almost entirely in minuscules ;
the C is formed in precisely the same manner
as that with which the inscription commences
in the print of St. Qiristophen Indeed the
inscriptions on these two prints are in charac-
ters of somewhat a less Gothic form thai
those commonly found on the early .wood"<uts
of Germany, or the Low Countries^ aod are
less perplexed by abbreviations.

CHAP. II.] AND THE ANNUNCIATION, A. D. 1423.

in that case, I should mislead others, I have caused the print to be
copied on a reduced scale; that those, who have not an opp(»tunity
of seeing the original, may have some means afforded them of judg-
ing for themselves, t .

M WOOD PRmrS with early dates. Coba». II.

The next print in point of antiquity, hitherto known, bearing a
date, of the authenticity of which there appears no ground <^ doubt,
is a wood engraving of a quarto size, which was found in die Abbey
of St. Blasius, in the Black Forest. It represents ^ The Martyrdom
" of St. Sebastian," and is dated 1437 : under it is a prayer (doubt-
less printed from the same block), and a repetition of the date,

thus: M.CCCC.XXXVIL*

Jansen informs us, that ^' M. Krismer, the librarian to the con-
** vent of the Chartreuse, at Buxheim," where the St. Christopher
was discovered, ** shewed De Murr an ancient wood engraving,
" coloured in the manner used by the German card-makers, which
was pasted into a manuscript, entitled, * Sermonum Partem
^ Hyemalen, de Nicolas DunkelspiiL' This print, which is seven
inches and a half in height, by five inches and a half in width,
is very much soiled, having been printed with a rubber. De Murr
says, that he cannot compare it with any other ancient wood
engraving that he has seen, although he is acquainted with so
many. It contains three subjects ; the upper part of the print
*^ being divided by a thick perpendicular line, into two compart-
^' ments, each of three inches in height. In the compartment to
the right, St. Dorothy is represented^ seated i^ a garden; the
infant Jesus is offering her roses, with which he has his lap filled.
** Before her is a basket full of the same flowers. In the lefi com-
partment, St. Alexis is represented lying at the foot of som^ steps,
upon which stands a man, who is pouring liquor upon him out of
a vase. Near the perpendicular lioe before mentioned, is the
" following date, written with a pen :

*' Anno dn. 1.4.4.3.

** The characters and the ink are conformable to the body of the
'^ manuscript. This date indicates the time when the copyist finished

* Hrinekm, Mtm B^tifd^ttn^ p. 143.

44
44
44
44
44
44
44

44
44

44
44
44

4t
€4
€4

CHAP. II.] WOOD .PRINTS WITH EARLY DATES. ^7

*' it, and caused it to be bound ; as is confirmed by the inscription at
" the end of the volume. The lower part of the print is entirely
" occupied by a representation of Christ bearing his cross, at the
*' moment when he is met by his mother, whom one of the soldiers
is pushing aside. Simon of Gyrene raises the end of the cross to
assist our Saviour in carrying it. The style of the engraving is
very rude.*' *

It is evident that this print, which like the preceding was most
probably of German manufacture, must have been executed pre-
vious to 1443.

It a[^ars that the old German wood ^igravers manu&ctured
prodigious quantities of these religious cuts. Heineken relates, that
in one of his journeys through Franconia, Swabia, Bavaria, and the
Austrian territories, he visited the libraries of many of the ancient
convents ; and that he found great numbers of them pasted at the
beginning, and at the end, of the old books of the fifteenth century.
Thus,'' says he, '' these images, which were dispersed and lost
amongst the laity, were, in part, preserved by the monks, who
pasted them into the first printed books with which they oma-
*' mented their libraries/' f Heineken might have added; and
into their more ancient manuscripts, of which we have just had
examples.

There can be little doubt that the custom of engraving the
images of saints, and other devout representations, prevailed in
Germany and the Low Countries at least as early as the fourteenth
century ; and it is very probable that specimens of that age may
still exist among the wood-prints preserved in the German con-
vents ; X although fi'om the want of dates upon them, it may now be

* Jamen, *^ Origine de la Gravure,'' 8cc» the Protestant religion m their country, and

torn. i. p. 236. the consequent abolition of their convents,

f *^ ld6e Gin^rale," p. 251. possess fewer means of producing similar

% It will occur to the reader, that in these evidence of the antiquity of their wood

respects the Germans have the advantage of engraving.

the Dutch ; who, since the estabUdbment of

44
44
U

08 EARLY WOOD PRINTS. [chap- ii.

difficult, or even impoBsible, to distinguish them from the wood-cuts
of the fifteenth century.

* In process of time, the practice gave rise to a more extended
appUcation of the principle of impression : — " After having pro-
*' duced the representations of saints/' says Heineken, " it was not
'* difficult for the artist to engrave historical subjects, and entire
^* sets of prints, and to accompany them with explanations of their
*^ meaning, engraved in the same manner on wood ; whether for
^^ the instruction of youth, or for the purpose of exciting devotion.
** And thus," says he, *' originated our first books printed fi*om
*^ engraved wooden blocks."* But of these I shall ?peak in the
next chapter.

• << Id£e GbokAtl' p. 251.

CHAP. III.] EARLY BLOCR-BOOKS. 99

CHAPTER III.

Early Blodc-Booh of Gernumf and the Low Countries. Probability
that some of them are as earhf as 1420. The Artists^ who executed
them unknown — and even the Schools to which most of them apper-
tain. Sketch of the Amelioration and Advancement of the Arts in
the Low Countries. Few of the Bhck-Books have any thing to
recommend them, except their Antiquity. The best of them are pro*
bably the Productions of Flanders, or of Holland. Three of them
described — The Biblia Pauperum ; Historia, seu Providentia Vir-
ginis Maris^ ex Cantico Canticorum ; Speculum Humanse
Salvationis. Brief Recapitulation of the foregoing Documents-
Introduction' of Woodrcuts into some of the first Books printed in
Italy.

At what period the wood engravers of Germany, and the Low
Countries, began to illustrate their sets of prints with such pro-
portions of text as to render them instructive, as well as amusing, to
the lower classes of the people, and to entitle them to the appella-
tion of Books (for the honor of having advanced this second step
towards the invention of typography appears to belong exclusively
to them), it is impossible to determine. But we cannot, I thinkp
place the commencement of that practice later than the year 1420 ; *
and it is very probable that, in some parts, it was used earlier.

* ^ Mr. Dibdin baa kindly permitted me to ^' Mr. Horn, a geodeman long and well

extract the following note from his splendid ^ known for his familiar acquaintance widi

and interesting work, the ^ Bibliothbca '^ andent books printed abroad, was m pos-

Spsmcsbiana i*" vol. i. p. iv. << session of a copy of the Biblia Paupb-

O 2

100

GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING [chap. ni.

Almost all writers ^ agree, that, in the sequel, it gave rise to the
idea of printing with moveable characters, and to the consequent
discovery of typography. Now, although we were to refuse credit
to the account of Lawrence Coster ; and although the expressions in
the well known process of 1439,f between Guttenberg and his
associates, at Strasburg, are not so clear as to leave no doubt
whether they refer to block-printing or to printing with moveable
characters, — still we can hardly place the first attempts of Guttenberg
to print with moveable characters later than the year 1440 ; ^ and it

'' RUM, of the Ars Morirndi, and of the
^' Apocaltpsr, all bound m one volume;
** which Tolume had, upon the exterior of the
** cover, the followiii^ words, stamped at the
'' extremity of the binding, towards the edge
** of the squares: 'Hic LirerRrlegatus

<' ' FUIT PER PlRRANUM — EcCLRSIE —

'< ' Anno Domini 14« (8).' Mr. Horn,
** haviQg broken up the volume and parted
** with the contents, was enabled to supply
^* me with the foregoing information upon
'' the strength of his memory alone : but he
'^ b quite confident of the three following
** particulars : — 1. That the works, contained
** in this volume, were as have been just men-
** tioned : 2. That the binding was the ancient
^' legitimate one ; and that the treatises had
'^ not been subsequently introduced into it :
^ and, 3. That the date was 142 odd— but
<' positively anterior to the year 1430.''

The cautious manner in which the above
testimony is given by Mr. Horn, his certainty
as to the first three figures of the date, his
uncertainty as to the fourth, joined to the
known respectability of that gentleman's cha-
racter, all combine to stamp it with the nn-
doi^ted marks of authenticity. It is to be
regretted that we are left in ^noraoce as to
the specific editions of the three block-books

in question, which were enclosed in this an-
cient binding.

* All, indeed, that I know of, except
Meerman*

f If we may rely upon the correctness
of the Latin translation of this document,
there can be little doubt that it refers to
printing, and to printing with a press; but
whether to printing with moveable characters,
or to block-printii^, appears less certain.
Mr. Douce is of the latter opinion— or rather,
he considers the evidence so obscure as to
admit of a doubt whether it refers to printing
at all. Lambinet, ** Origine de Tlmpri-
merie,'' tom. i. p. 20, speaking of Scho&pflin's
first publication of this process, cautiously
observes : '^ II prouve par ces titres, ou plutSt
par le tens qu*il leur donne^ que Guttenberg
fit ^ Strasbourg les premiers essais de son art,
par des caract^es mobiles de hois, et qu'il
parvint k y imprimer avec des charactires
m^talliques.''

;{: It is probable that the art of printing
with moveable characters was brought to pef^
fection in 1450, and perhaps even earlier.
The first Bible printed by Guttenberg (and it
must have been some years in preparation)^
was certainly published between 1450 jumI
1455. This is proved by the memorandum of

CHAP, in.] THE EARLY BLOCK-^BOOKS. loi

is surely not too much to ascribe to the commencement of biock*-
printmg a priority of at least twenty years ; more especially if the
great extent of Germany be considered, the consequent probalnlity
that the earliest block-books might hare be^i printed in parts very
remote from those in which typography was first thought of, and
the little likelihood llnat such productions, which were chiefly in-
tended for the less opul^it classes of society, should have found
their way to distant cities for some time.

However this may be, it b certain that, for many years after the
invention of typogntphy, the engravers in wood continued to publish
their block-books ; in doing which, they no doubt found their ac-
count, as no expensive apparatus was required in that mode of
printing, and as their blocks being once engraved, they could at
any time take off as few, or as many copies of their works, as they
chose, or had an immediate demand for.*

From the time that wood engraving became connected with the
manufacture of books, we may date its more general diffusion and
improvement ; and thus the art of printing, which owed its origin
to xylography, became at length its greatest support Moreover,
from this period the productions of the wood engraver, collected in
the form of volumes, became less exposed to loss or injury ; and,
consequently, many of them are preserved to our time.

In this view of the subject, it might appear proper that I should
here say something concerning the invention of typography ; nor
should I shrink from the task, could I flatter myself with the hope

•n iUumhiator, or binder, of the name of ino?eabie cfaaractera), those who have not

Cremer, with the date 14^6, upon a copy of aeen it will scarcely form an adequate idea,

this rare book preserved at Paris. A fac- Mr. Dibdin, in the first volume of his

simile of this memorandum is given by Mr. '^ Bibliotheca Spenceriafia,'* has given a well

Dibdin, in the eighth namber of Valpy's executed^c-^t'/e of the type with which it

Classical Journal — together with a copious is printed, to which I refer the reader,
disquisition upon the Bible itself. * Heinekbn, *^ Idie GeniraU^ &c.

Of the perfection of this magnificent spe- • p. ^5. Two editions of the '' Biblia Paupe-

cimen of early typography (and it is probably nun/'whichwillbenoticedinasubsequcntpage

the first work of magnitude printed with of diis chapter, bear the dates 1470 and 1475.

M» GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING [chap. ni.

of discovering the truth, amidst the chaos of contradictory testimony
and discordant opinion with which that important question is
enveloped. The origin of many useful arts is involved in doubt
and obscurity ; and of this art, more especially, it may be said, that
the great number of controversial volumes which have been, and
still continue to be, written, by men of research, for the purpose of
illustrating its origin, is a sufficient argument to deter any one, whosd
studies, like my own, have not been particularly directed' to the
subject, from venturing upon its discussion.

But although, for the above reasons, I shall avoid, as far as pos^
sible, taking part in this controversy, I shall reserve to myself
the liberty of offering such occasional remarks upon the subject,
as, in the course of my inquiry respecting engraving, may be siig^
gested by the evidence before me ; especially when such evidence
appears likely to elucidate obscure or misrepresented facts, or to
expose the fiillacy of unwarranted conclusions.

The authors of the wood-cuts, which constitute what are termed
the old block-books, are all of them unknown : the epochs and the
schools, even, to which most of them belong, still' remain to be
ascertained.

If we could trust Heineken, the last of these points would
be soon settled : every thing, he tells us, originated in Germany^
With that patriotic writer, the circumstance of playing-cards having
been known about 1376, in France, is a sufficient proof that they
were known previously in Germany.* " Nay, our total ignorance
respecting the first engravers in wood is also a great argument
for Germany. For if that art had been invented in any other
country,'' says he, ** the ancient writers of that country would not
** have failed to record it."f As if the same argument might not
with equal force be urged against Germany by the writers of any

€€
44
i€

• '< Id^ 66i6nile/' p. Ml. '< L'Origine ** qu'm la connoimit, ven ce terns, em

^ des Cartes ai jouer est awez prouT^e par ces '' France!*
^ circonstances, et U ieimdt qtlella oni Hi f Idem, p. 885.
^ en tuage en Alenutgne avani 1376, pafce

CHAf. Illi]

TH£ EARLtY block-books.

103

other country; since the old German authors preserve the same
profound silence respecting the invention of wood engraving as do
those of other European nations.

That, which proof cannot be found to establish, is to be supported
by assertion. ^' Although/' continues he, 'f it is very indifferent, as
'^ regards the art itself, to know who was the first engraver, it is not
'^ indifferent to the curious to be informed at least in what country

they must look for the commencement of engraving ; and I am

fully convinced that those who search for it out of Germany will
f' lose their labour/' ♦

We learn in another part of his book that the central parts of
Germany have his preference. Speaking of engraving in copper (and
it is evident, from the general tenor of his discourse, that he wishes
to inculcate similar doctrine respecting the origin of engraving id
wood), he says, he is persuaded that the first inventors of the art
resided either at Culmbach, at Nuremberg, or at Augsburg.-f

The Dutch writers, on the other hand, with Meerman ^ at their
head^ are of opinion that wood engraving was invented in Hol-
land ; and that the chief part of the early block-books were
printed, if not engraved, by their hero Coster, a personage who,
it is as confidently asserted by the adverse party, never had
existence.

It would be no easy task to apportion to the contending parties
their, respective shares of praise. The pretensions of each have been
exaggerated ; and, when once more has been asked than is really

• <' Id6e 6£n£nle,'' pp. 285, 886.

t Idem, p. £82.

X Meerman ascribes the inyentioii of lylo-
grapliy to Lawrence Caier; or, as he oiDs
him, Lawrent Jamxaan; but supposes diat
he had previously imrented the art of priotiiig
widi moveable characters. The first editions
of the " Speculum Humans Salvatikmis,*
Qn Dutch), the ^< Figurse ^icse Veteris atque

Novi Testameoti,'' or, 'f Biblia Pauperum,**
the ** Historia, seu Providentia Virginis Mariaej.
ex Qmtico Caoticorum,*^ the '' Ars Mori*
endi,'' and the '< Histmk S. daunts Evan^^
gelists, ejusque Visioiies Apocalypticse^' virere,
all of them, according to Meerman, printed
by Lawrent Jansioon, or his heirs. See
Janaen, ^ De Tlnventaon de rinq>rimerie,*
p»85^ei8eq.

104 GENJBRAL REMARKS CONCERNING [chap. hi.

ducit we are naturally inclined to hesitate^ before we admit the jus*
tice even of those claims which may be well founded. I shall,
therefore, in treating of these block-books, equally refuse my assent
to the unsupported assertions of Heineken, and to the overstrained
hypothesis of Meerman ; chusing rather, for my guides, when such
can be found, the unsuspected testimony of authors who took no
part in the dispute,

A short review of the promulgation and advancement of the arts
of design, generally, in that part of the continent <^ Europe which
comprises Germany and the Netherlands, may assist us in forming
our conjectures as to the school from which some^ at least, of these
ancient books of wood engravings were derived.

It is remarkable that we have no account even of the pointers who
flourished within this vast tract of country previous to the close of
the fourteenth century, and that all the eariiest among them were
natives of the Low Countries.

Descamps, who copies Van Mander, commences his hbtory of
Flemish and German art, with Hubert and John Van Eyck, of
Maaseyk on the banks of the Meuse : the former was bom in 1366
and died in 1426 : the latter, who invented oil-paintii^, was bom
four years after his brother Hubert, and died in 1441. Roger of
Bruges, and Hugues vander Goes, of the same place, are next
mentioned. Then follow Albert van Ouwater of Harlem, contem-
porary, or nearly contemporary of the Van Eycks ; Guerard^ of
Harlem, his disciple ; and Dirk van Harlem, who was bom about
1410 and died 1470; Hans Hemmelinck or Memmilinck of Bruges,
one of whose pictures was dated 1479; Guerard vander Meire of
Ghent, Jan Mandyn of Harlem, and Volckaert of the same city ;
Quintin Metzis of Antwerp ; Jerom Bosche of Bois-le-Duc, cele-
brated for his talent in subjects of whimsical and extravagant
imagary ; and Cornelius Enghelbrechtsen of Leyden, who was bora
in 1466 and died in 1533.

Nor can Van Mander, although he was himself a Fleming, be
accused of any undue partiaUty to the Low Countries, in tiius de*

CHAP. III.]

THE EARLY BLOCK-BOOKS.

105

toting the early part of his work so exclusively to the history of the
Dutch and Flemish painters. These were really artists of ability and
reputation, whose performances were not only esteemed in Germany
and the Low Countries, but also in Italy, whither they found their
way in considerable numbers at an early period, and were highly
prized. And, in truth, in an account written in the early part
of the sixteenth century,* by an anonymous writer, supposed to be
a native of Padua, in which are described the works of art then exist-
ing at Padua, Cremona, Milan, Pavia, Bergamo, Crema, and
Venice, we find frequent and respectful mention of the works of
most of the above-named artists of Holland and the Low Countries ;
whereas, of the painters of Germany we find no mention whatever :
except of Albert Durer, and of one Jeronimo Todeschino, concern-
ing whom I can find no information in other writers.

In short, whoever will be at the pains to look over the list of the
painters of these countries, with a map of Germany before him, will
be presently convinced that all those, whose names have been deemed
worthy of remembrance, firom the time of the Van Eycks to that of
Albert Durer, were, if we except Michel Wolgemut, natives and
residents either of Holland or Flanders. The immense tract of
country, properly called Germany, had, no doubt, its artists ; but
they ware inferior to those of the Low Countries : insomuch that
the German school of painting can hardly be said to have com*
menced before Albert Durer.f

* NoHzia tFapere di Diaegno ddla prima
mtta del secolo xvL &c« Sec Scritia da un
nnonimo di quel tempo. PubbUcata e il-
lusirata da D. Jacopo Morelli, 8vo. Bas*-
sano, 1800. The anonymoiis author pro-
bably wrote above seventy years before
the publication of Fan Mandej^s book.

*)- Descamp8| La Vie det Peinirei
Flamands, AUemands, et Hollandoi$, Bvo.
4 t(m. Paris, 1753. It is iodeed true that
DeKamp$f following Fan Mander, only

commences widi the discovery of oiUpaint-
ing. There can be litde doubt, that Van
Mander could have given us an account of
some of those painters who lived prior to
that invention, had he chosen it, as well
Nedierlanders as Germans. The names,
indeed, of a few, have been preserved in the
inscriptioiis on their pictures: amongst which
may be mentioned Thomas db Mdtina,
or MuTTEBSDORF, in Bohemia; who, it is
said, lived at Pn^e about 1207, and ac-

100

GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING [chap, iil

This may in some degree be accounted for : the difficulties and
danger attending long journeys by land in those early limes, pro-
bably prevented that frequent intercourse between the inhabitants
of the central parts of Qermany and those of Italy, which was faci-
litated to the inhabitants of Holland and Flanders, by their nu*
merous sea-ports and their active commerce with the Mediterranean :
and hence the Dutch and Flemish artists may have had many
opportunities of improvement, which were denied to their less for-
tunate contemporaries residing in the inland parts of the Continent.

That which has been said respecting the early painters of these
countries, will, in a great measure, be found applicable to their
first engravers on copper ; most of whom appear to have flourished
in the Netherlands, or oil the western borders of Germany. I
speak as well of the few whose names are known^ as of others,
whose prints are distingiiished only by initial letters or monograms ;
because, in several cases, we have good grounds for conjecturing
the places where they resided.

Thus the artist who marked several of his engravings on copper with
the initials (^;S« and the dates \fL66^ I&6A» we have, I think,
reason to believe, resided at Bocholt, or in its vicinity ;* because of

cording to Chretien de Meckel (Catalogue
des Tableaux de la Galerie Impetiale de
Fienne, Basle, 1784, Svo.) painted in oil;
Nicolas Wurmser of Strasburg, and
Theodoric of Prague, who flourished
1557, and whose pictures at Vienna are also
said to be in oil. AIsoHans Muoltschbr
of Ulm, in Suabia, one of whose altar-pieces
in the Truclue$nan catalogue of pictures (a
oollection sold in England some years ago)
was dated 1436; and Jouann and Ivo
Striobl, whose names, with the date 1438,
and the qualification, Tribuni in Memmingben
(in Suabia) were inscribed upon another pic-
,ture in the same collection. As to Mbchbl's
4iasertion that the paintiogs of the three an-

cient artists first mentioned are la oil^ I
sludi only observe, that I think it most likely
that he was deceived. This, however, is not
a subject connected with the one under con-
sideration. I shall therefore refer those of
my readers, who wish further information
concerning diese and other suppoted ancieiit
specimens of oil-painting, to the judicious
observations of Lanzi {Storia Pitt, torn i.
p. 58. et $eq.)

* JIfr. Bartsch conjectares (Peintre Gr»>
veur, torn. 6. p. 1.) that he was a Swis^-^
but I think upon very slight grounds. We
have, in fiict, no account of any Swiss en*
graver on copper, of the fifteenth century.

CHAP- III.] THE EARLY BLOCK-BOOKS. 107

the affinity which his works bear to those of Francis van Bocholt and
Israel van Mecken, both of whom resided at Bocholt ; added to the
circumstance of Israel's having copied several of his engravings^
Mr. Bartsch is of opinion that the place from which Israel took his
name, is the small town of Meghen or Mecken> (called also, by
the inhabitants, Mekenen,) which is situated upon the river
Meuse, three leagues above Bois-le-duc, upon the frontiers of the
county of Ravenstein.^ It is not a great distance from Bocholt, a
town in the bishoprick of Munster. Martin Schongaver, the best
engraver that these countries produced in the fifteenth century,
although descended from a hmily of Augsburg, is said to have been
bom at Colmar in Alsace, where he resided, and died in 1499.f It
is highly probable that the ancient artist, who marked his engravings
with the initials f*7Ts I 4^H» or i*l?r# accompanied by an in-
strument of a singular form, supposed to have been used in en*
graving, was a native of Holland; and that the word 3VO0ll^
generally engraved at the top of his prints, and which some have
read Zwott, means no other than the town of Zwoll in Holland,
where perhaps he resided.^ It is certain that hi& style very much
resembles that of some of the Dutch and Flemish painters of the
fifteenth century. Besides these, might be mentioned the ancient
artist who engraved several of the designs of Jerome Bosche, and
who, it is highly probable, lived at Bois-le-duc ; and several others

* Peintre Graveur, torn. 6. p. 194. no other than the usual mark of abbreviation,

't' Idem, p. 104. But it is also possible that the word Zwoll

'f, An example of two I's joined together with a similar cross-stroke, may be intended

in a similar manner by a cross-stroke resem- as an abbreviation of Zwollbnsis — native

bling that used in crossmg two t's, is to be or inhabitant of ZwoU. I learn from Mr.

observed in one of the inscriptions to the IMbdin, that the same kind of abbreviation

second print of " the block-book of the occurs, almost invariably, in the books

Canticles," which will be described in a sub- printed m the Abbey of St. Alban, in the

sequent part of thb chapter, where the word fifteenth century ; and that it is also found

'' pettes'' is thus represented Jlftt. The >" *« books printed by Ferandus, at Brescia,

two kst letters of the word are, it is true, A. D. 1473-1480.
^canting ; and hence this cross-stroke may be

P 2

109

GENERAL REMARKS CONCERNING [chap, hi,

whose engravings bear so strong a resemblance td those of the aboye^
described artists, as; to give us every reason to consider them of the
same school.

From all this it is fair to infer that, however the arts of painting
and engraving may have been practised throughout Germany^
long previous to the conmiencement of the fifteenth century,
the honor of having first contributed to their improvement belongs
more especially to the artists of the Low Countries, and others who
inhabited the western extremities of Germany. And hence I am
strongly of opinion, that those early block-books, whose pretensions
to antiquity are not unattended by some claims to our approval of
them as works of art, appertain more properly to the ancient schools
of Holland and Flanders than to that of Germany : an opinion/
indeed, which a comparison of some of the best of them with others^
professedly and indisputably executed in Germany, will tend not a
little to support.

I know but of three works of the kind that are entitled to this dis-
tinction: the "BiBUA Pauperum," or •• Poor Man's Bible," the
^* HisTORiA SEU Providentia Virginis Mari£ ex Cantico Can-
TicoRUM ;" and the *' Speculum Humanje Salvationis." As for
the " Ars Memorandi," the '* Historic Sancti Johannis Evange-
UST^, EJUSQUE VisiONES ApocALYPTiciE," and the " Ar^ Moriendi,"
of which there are so many editions — ^and all the other block-books
which Heineken has so elaborately described — ^they are evidently
of another and very inferior school ; and, whether executed in Ger-
many, or in the Low Countries, were probably the rude manufacture
of the ordinary card«makers.* I shall, therefore, content myself

* I speak, however, of these rude pro*
ductions of the early wood eograTers gene^
rally — to say that they are all of them abso-
lutely detoid of merit would be going too
far. Mr. Dibdin, in his ^' Bibliotheca
Spenceriana,'' has selected from the Apoca-
lypse, a small group of ^' a lame and a blind

beggar led by a dog," which, as he justly
observesi is by no means devoid of spirit;
and a good figure of '' St. Michael :" but
still the general character of these books is
such as I have stated in the teit. The
shortness of the figures, and the dispropor-
tionate largeness of the heads, evidently prove

CHAP, III.}

THE EARLY BLOCKBOOKS.

109

speaking of the three first*mentioned books, more especially as
the imperfections of the latter furnish no satisfactory evidence of
theii* precedence in point of antiquity.*

I am aware that some readers will not be a little surprised, that
my researches for the purpose of discovering the school to which the
best amongst the ancient block-books belong, should have thus led
to a conclusion so contrary to the doctrine which Heineken laboured
with so much assiduity to establish ; especially if they happen to
have read La Sema Santander, who, in the first volume of his
Dictionnaire Bibliographique, (p. 37) roundly asserts, ** that that
writer has proved, demonstratively, that all these books with images
engraved in wood, were originally engraved and printed in Ger-
many."

The truth is, that Heineken has proved no such thing ; and that
Santander, whose book is written with great spirit, might, had he
chosen to be at the pains, easily have detected the fallacy of many of
his arguments. But an unqualified approval of them suited his pur*
pose better ; and Heineken's pretended demonstration was used by
Santander as a poii[d6rous weapon, with which the more effectually to

tbein to be the designs of artbts of an bfeiior
dass. Bat, whatever may be their preten^
siona, the reader will the more readilj ez«
cuae me for limiting myself to the descrip-
tion of the three block-books first mentioned :
as, independently of Heineken's works, a de^
failed accowit of most of the others, accom-
panied by fiic-similes of some of the prints
they contain, will be found in the Biblio-
theca Spenceriana : Lord Spencer*s library
being eminently rich in these scarce speci-
mens of the infancy of printing, as it is indeed
in every thing rare and curious in the His-
tory of Typography,

* An inquiry into the age and school
to which thesq different block-books ap-
peftam, if ' undertaken by a person tho-

roughly versed in all those minute distinctions,
by which the dates and country of ancient
manuscripts are ascertained, and well stored
with antiquarian knowledge, (particularly in
the epochs of the various changes which took
place in the dresses of the different classes of
the people of Germany and the Netherlands,
and the alterations which were made in the
construction of armour from the thirteenth
to the close of the fifteenth century) would
be an interesting work, and might probably
throw much l^ht on this obscure subject.
The task, however, would not be an easy
one ; more especially as the books themselves,
to which a frequent reference would of
course be necessary, are of extreme rarity.

■

110 THE EARLY BLOCK-BOOKa [chap, hi-

discomfit Meerman, and all other advocates of a system of typo*
graphical history which he had undertaken to oppose.

Most, indeed, of the late writers upon hibhography have taken
upon trust all that Heineken has said relative to the early block-
books. Nor is it surprising that authors, whose subject only led
them incidentally to speak of the art of engraving, should have
thought themselves safe in relying upon his decisions ; since his nu-
merous works are, (most, or all of them, ostensibly) upon the sub-
ject of engraving, and evince, it must be admitted, no small share
of erudition. It cannot also be denied that his account of the early
block-books is rich in interesting details, which had escaped the
observation of those who preceded him, and is consequently highly
valuable.

But Heineken's knowledge of the arts of design, notwithstanding
his fondness for the subject, was not such as to render him, by any
means, a sure guide in matters of taste ; and he is often captivated
with the worst, whilst he passes by, unnoticed, that which merits
praise.

Had Lambinet examined the ancient block-books, assisted by
any one who had a knowledge of drawing, he would not have said
of them : (" Origine de Tlmprimerie,'' p. 62) " lis se ressemblent

presque tons. Les figures qui y sont representees sont grossierement

fitites, au simple trait, dans le goiit Gothique," &c. He would
have learned that, although in " the Gothic taste,'' they are not, all
of them, " rudely executed ;" and he Would have seen that the
figures, in the three works which I am about to describe, are not
'* in simple outline," but slightly and not inelegantly shaded by
hatchings.

But that which most of all is calculated to awaken caution in the
reader of Heineken's works, is the excess of his patriotism ; in the
indulgence of which he awards all honour and all praise to Ger-
many. It is not by scraping together every iota of evidence or
argument, that can be brought to favor one side of a question, leaving
the other, at the same time, wholly undefended, that we can hope

4€

CHAP. III.]

BIBLIA PAUPERUM.

Ill

to discover truth. Of such a method, the result must ever be over-
strained hypothesis and unjustified conclusions: conclusions by
which, nevertheless, in proportion to the skill of the writer, those
will be in danger of being misled who want the patience necessary
to investigation, and the acuteness by which semblance is to be
distinguished from reality.

HisTORiAE Veteris et Novi Testamenti, sbu

BiBUA Pauperum.

Heineken begins his account of the ancient block-books
which he was acquainted, with the *' Biblia Pauperum,'* or Poor
Man's Bible ; without, however, warranting its precedence, in point
of antiquity, to some of the rest.

This work is no other than a book of forty leaves of a small folio
size, printed by means of friction, from the same number of engraved
blocks of wood,* on one side of the paper only ; in which respect, as
well as in the brown tintf apparently unmixed with oil, J with which

* It 10, however, possibk, that two pages
may have been engraved on one block, as we
shall find was the case with the book of Can-
ticles, under which circumstance the number
of blocks would be twenty instead of forty. I
am led to suspect this to be the fact, from an
observation made by Latnbinet (torn. L p. 66)
on a copy of the Biblia Pauperum at Basle.
Four of the prints in that copy, I. K. L. M.
appear to have been taken off from blocks
which had been broken and afterwards joined.

-f* The tint with which some of the ancient
block-books are taken off, is more of a grey ;
and indeed the later editions of one or two
ot them are printed with ecHmnon printiog-
iek and a press ; of which kind Lord Spen^
cer^s library contains specimens. But these
last were certsinly published long after the
establishment of typography.

X The great rarity and increased value of
these ancient works of wood engraving, pre-
cludes the idea of making experiments, by
which to ascertain, more decidedly, whether
or not they are really printed with colour un-
mixed with oil. The general appearance of
those which I have seen is certaiidy such as
I have described in the text; and, if we
can credit Heineken, the fiict is beyond
a doubt. Speaking of the '' Specur
lum Humana Salvaticnu^ {Idee Gene-
rale, p. 441. note) he says. '' Cette d^-
'' trempe^ eaaplpyie dans nos andens ouvrages,
** est d'une compodHon si foible, qiiune ku*
^' midiiif tani soitpeu forte, ett capable de
** femporter. Cest ce qui eif arriv6 i
^ qvelques eiemphires, quand ib ont iti
** longtems enfermts dans les armoires des
^ Biblioth6q[iies vout£es, on dans des endroits

1» BIBMA PATJPERUMi {chap. m.

the prints are taken oflF, it resembles most of Uie other early block-
books. These printed pages are placed two by two^ facing each
other ; the second print being opposite to the first, the fourth to the
third, and so forth : by these means the blank sides of each two
leaves are likewise opposed to each other, and being pasted together,
give to the whole the appearance of a book printed in the ordiniuy
way on both sides the paper.

The prints differ a little in size, being from nine inches and a half
to ten inches and a quarter in ' height, by about seven inches and
a half in breadth. Each print contains three sacred historical sub-
jects disposed in compartments, side by side, and four half-length
figures of prophets and other holy men in niches; two of them
above and two beneath the central subject ; in the manner repre-
sented in the subjoined ^etch :

" rieo moms que sea. Je uii par exp6- " I'imfmmon sit laitc avec le ftottoir,

" rienet fi^uiw liqueur ttn peufartt, eniioe " comme Ton s'en apper9oit. indeamieiit

" entiiraaent cette mere, quoiqtu Cent- " par rempreinte, qui est biea forte, et qui

" preittte If rate. II y en a qui croyent que " laisse voir le deaseta nir le papter, m^me

" cette d£trempe a emp£ch£ les fMvmiers " quaixl I'encre est eftc^ : par cette raison

" imprunean d^primer cea oamget dee " on a Hi emp£cb£ dlmpritner encore det

" deux cdt6«. Mail, <^tat fdiUdt puceque " nguettes au reven."

CHAP. III.] BIBLIA PAUPERUM. lis

• The inscriptions, which are written in the Latin language,
rhythmical tenninationB, commence at the top of each print, in the
vacancies on either side the two half figures in niches, by the texts
of the Bible from which the subjects are taken. The prophets and
saints have underneath thekn their names ; and additional inscrip*
tions, relative to the stories represented, are introduced on labels
and in other spaces below.

The central compartments represent the history of the New Tes-
tament ; those on either side, stories from the Old Testament, typical
of^ or alluding to, the central subjects.

Thus, on one side " the Annunciation," in the first print, *' the
Temptation of Eve'' is represented ; and, on the other, " Gideon with
the Fleece." Upon a scroll above, on the left, over the Temptation
of Eve, is this inscription : " Ecce virgo concipiet et pariet filiunu;"
and below, '^vipera vim perdit, sine vi pariente puella:" lower
down, upon another scroll, are these words : '' porta hec clausa erit
et non aperietur/' On the other side, in like manner, over the
Gideon, is this inscription : '* descendit dominus sicut pluvia in
vellus :" lower down ; '' rore madet vellus pluviam sicut arida
tellus;" and, at the bottom, the title of the principal subject;
<< virgo salutatur innupta manens gravidatur."

Each print, to guide the bookbinder in placing it, is marked witha
letter of the alphabet, immediately over the central subject. The first
twenty prints are marked from ^ to \} ; after which a second al-
phabet commences, for the last twenty prints, the letters of which
are distinguished from those of the former, by being placed between
two points, thus * « ^«

The marks which distinguish the various editions of this work
will be noticed hereafter : meanwhile I must observe^ that the copy
before me (Lord Spencer's) is of that edition which Heineken terms
" the second," but which I am inclined to think earlier than that
which he places as " the first."

In the following catalogue the reader will find a fac-simile of the
letter by which each print is distinguishedj and a spedfication of

■

BIBLIA FAUPERUM^

[chap. III.

e subjects it represents^ with the verses accompany-
{.* A few specimens of the cuts are also copied, that

the three

ing them.* A few specimens of the cuts are also copied^
those who have not an opportunity of seeing the original work, may
be, in some degree^ enabled to judge of the style and abilities of
the ancient artist by whom it was executed.

JEve tempted by the Serpent.

Yipera vim perdit
Siiie vi pariente puella.

No. 1- ^

The Annunciation. Gideon and the Fleece.

Rore madet vellus
Pluviam sicut arida tellus.

Virgo salutatur imiupta manens gravidatur.

The figure of the Virgin in the compartment representing " the
Annunciation^* has considerable merit. The composition is also in
other respects remarkable ; the artist having introduced the body of
the infant Christ descending amidst the rays which proceed from
God the Father ; according to the doctrine of Valentine, a heretic
of the second century : that, " Christum corpus de ccelo attulisse, et
per Mariam tanquam per tubum, et fistulam transiisse.'' Zani re-
marks, that several other ancient masters have fallen into the same
error, and especially Italians.-f Perhaps, indeed, the reason for
the original introduction of the group of Eve tempted by the Ser-
pent, as typical of the incarnation of Christ, may be traced to the
heresy of the sect of the Ophites, a branch of the Valentinian sect,
who imagined that the serpent by which our first parents Vere de-
ceived, might have been Christ himself f

A copy of the whole of this first leaf of the Biblia Pauperum, is

' * Or rather some of the ?er8e»— in which
I have followed Heineken.
t MaieriaUf fcc. p. ilO. iSee, abo,

Mosheim^i EccletiasUcal History, vol. L
p. 230. (Edinburgh, 1805.)
:|; Mosheim, vol. i. p. 234.

CHAP. III.] BIBLIA FAUPERUM: ll«

given by Schelhom (Amoenit torn. ir. p. 396). Tlie reader ii here!
presented with a faithful representation of the central subject

t. b

■

MomandthtBtimiiig

7%! Nativity.

Aaron's Rodprottucin^

Bvi.

aFlomer.

Locetet %uesdt Hie contra morem

Sed non rubns igne caleaciL Prodncit vii^la Borem.

Absque dolore parifl Tirgo Maria maris.

The middle compartment of this leaf is also prettily composed, and
ft2

Iia BIBLU PADPERUM. [cup. in;

has, moreover, some novelty to recommend it The infont is, bona
/de, placed in the manger.

3. C

Ahur Dinting David The Adoratim of the The Queen of Sh^'s

at Hfhron. Magi. Visit to Solomon.

PlebB notat hec gentes Hec typate goitoB

Cbristi jungi cnpientes. Notat ad Christum Tenieutan.

Christus adoratar aonun thus mina locator.

<iHAP. III.]

BiBUA pauperum:

lit

The Presentation of <
the First4^am in the
Temple.

Hec preseatatur

Partus prior ut redimatur.

4. 6

The PnAJicaHan.

The Mother of Samuel

dedicating her Santo the

Service of the Temple.

Oblatum Christum
Samuel te deuotat istum«c

Yirgq libans Christum Simeonis recipis istum.

5. e

sending her The Flight into Egypt. Micholassisting David

to descend from the

Ltoban*

Liquit tecta patris
Jacob formidine fratris.

Par Mycol Dayit
Saul insidias sibi cavit
is diram Christus puer efiugit iram.

6. f

2nfte Adoration of the The Sojourn of the Holy Dagon falling to the

Golden Calf. Family in Egypt j and Ground before the Ark.

the Destruction of the
Idols.

Per Moysen sacrum Archa repentiue

Teritur yituli simulacrum. Fit Dagon causa ruine.

Ydola presente Christo cecidere repente.

7. S

Saul causing Abime- The Murder of the Inr The Prediction of the
lech and all the Priests nocents. Death of the Sons of

to be beheaded. Eli.

Saul propter Davit Uno sublato

Christos domini vere strayit Stirps est data regia fiirto*

Isti pro Christo mundo toUuntur ab isto. x

The composition on the rights in this leaf, although by no means
excellent as a whole^ contains a figure of a woman with an infant

118 BI6LIA PAUPERUM. {chapv im

in her arms, ^rhich possesses great beauty. It is here copied,
together with the figure of an old man, extracted from the left-hand
compartment of the leaf described under No. Id. Both these figures
bear testimony to the artist's talents in drapery. At the same tim^
I must caution the reader ihat they are to be deemed selections*
rather than fair samples of his genertd abilities ; nnce, in groups of
several figures, he is not often equally successful.

8. 1>

David canndtittg Ood TheRettim of the Bob/ The Retm of Jacot
retpectimg Hi Return Famfyjrom Egypt. to his aim Countrf. .

i^ier the Deathof Saul.

Ad patriam Davit Fonnidat fratrem

Ddiincto Saul remeant. Jacob ardet mere patrem.

Ad loca flancta redit Ibesug egiptoqae recedit

CHAP. III.} BIBLIA PAUPERUM. 119

9. t

TkePa8Mg€oftheRed John baptizing Christ. TheTwoSpieshearing

Sea. the Bunch of Grapes.

Hostes mer^ntur Flumen transitur

Per maris iter gradiuntor. Et patria mellis aditur.

Dam baptisatur Christus baptisma sacratur.

10. k

Esau selling his Birth- Christ tempted in the Adam and Bve seduced
right. Wilderness. hy the Serpent.

Lentis ob ardorem Serpens vicit Adam

Proprium male perdit honorem. Yetitam sibi smneret escam.

Christum temptavit satanas at eum saperarat

11. "t

The Dead Body of the The Resurrection of La- The Widow's Son re-
Widow's Son btfore zarus. stored to lAfe by

Elijah. Elijah.

Est vidue status Per tua dona deus

Per helyam vivificatus. Yitam dedit huic heliseus.

Per te fit christe redivivus Lazarus iste.

12. m

Abraham and the Three The Transfiguration. Shadrach, Meshach^
Angels. and Abednego^ in the

Fiery Furnace.

Tres comtemplatur Panditur en isti

Abraham solus veneratur. Gentili gloria Christi.

Ecce dei natum cemunt tres glorificatum.

13. TV

Nathan rqnroving Dor Mary Magdalen at the Miriam^ the Sister of

ind. Feet of Jesus j^ in the Aaron^ punished with

House of the Pharisee. Leprosy.

Yoce natan tactus Hec lepre tacta

Bex praTod corrigit actus. Pena fit munda reacta.'

Banc a peecatis absohit fons bonitatis.

lao BIBLIA PAUPERUAf. [chap. hi.

14. 0

Dovid,withtheHeadqf Ckrisfs jEiOiy into Jenh Tke CkUdrem of tke
GoUah. talem. Proph^ eomng to

meet EUjah.

Hosfem qui strarit Gloria nate Dei

Laudatur carmine Davit Tibi eonvenit hec hdysei.

Carmen hebreomm te laudet criste bonorum.

15. 1^

JDarius requested by Christ driving the Mo- Judas Maccabeus gith

JEsdras to buHd the nejf4enders out of the ing orders for the Pu-

Temple. Temple. ryicatumoftheTemple.

Templum mundari £t tna sancta deus

Jubet hie et festa yocari. Mundare studet Machabeus.*

Christus vendentes templo repellit ementes.

16. ^

Josephsentby his Father Judas Iscariot proposing Absalom encouraging
unto his Brethren. to the High Priest to the People to rebd

betrojf Christ. against his Father.

Turba malignatur Nititur in fistta

Fratriim puer nominatur. Patris proles Bcelerata*

In mortem Christi conspirant insimul isti.

17. IS

Joseiph sold to the Ishr Judas receiving theThirty Joseph sold to Poti
maelites. Pieces of Silver. phar.

Te signat Christe Convenit hoc Christo

Nummis venundatur iste Quidquid pnero fit in isto*

Qui cristnm vendis Judas ad tartara tendis.

18. t

Jidchisedec meeting The Last Supper. The Manna ftdUng

Abram. from Heaven.

Sacra notant Christi Se tenet in manibms

Qae Melchisedech dedit isti. Se dbat ipse dl

Rex sedet in cena torba cinctus duodena.

cBkv. Ill} BIBUA PAUPERU»1 m

19. it

Micaiah praphesyif^ Christ, after having The Groom of King^

the Death of Ahub* washed his Disciples' JoramcrushedtoDeath

Feet, about to go to the in the Gate.

Mount of Olives.

Mycheam cedunt Premitur a popolo

Prophete qui male credunt. Non credens hie helyseo.

Gethsemane transit Ihesus inde suis valedieet

20. U

The Five Foolish Vir- Christ in the Garden— The Fall of the Angels,
gins with their Lamp^ the Soldiers sent to take
extingvished. him having fallen to the

Crround.

Virginibus fatuis Serpens antiquus

Aufertur spes data gnaris. Cecidit de sede repulsus.

Sunt sic prostrati eristum captare parati.

21. .^,

Ahner treacherously Judas betraying Christ Tryphon's treacherous
killed by Joab. with a Kiss. mamier of taking Jo-

nathan captive.

Alloquitur blande Verba gerens blanda

Joab hunc perimitque nephande. Parat arma tryphonque nephanda.

Per paeem Christe tradit hys te proditor iste.

22. ^b*

Jezebel endeavouring to Pilate washing his Hands. Daniel accused by the

compass the Death qf Babylonians.

Elijah.

Femina trux istum Gens hee crudelis

Dampnat sic impia eristum. Facit in mortem danielis.

£t fera plebs ansa dampnare Ihesum sine causa.

122

BIBLIA PAUPERU»r.

tcHAI<«4lI.

ffarn^ uncovering the

Nakedness of his

Father Noah.

Nuda yerenda videt

Patris dum cham male ridit.

25/ ,C ♦

Christ crotvned with
TTwms.

The Children mocking
the Prophet Elijah.

Percutit ira dei
Derisores helysei.

Pro nobis criste probrum patens pie triste.

.6.

Isaac carrying the Wood
Jot his own Sacrifice.

24.

Christ bearing the
Cross.

Ligna ferens criste
Te presignat puer iste.

The Widow ofSarfjOa

holding Two Pieces of

Wood in the form of a

Cross.

Mistica sunt signa

Crucis hec vidue duo ligna.

Pert crucis hoc lignum cristus reputans sibi dignum.

25. . C f
The Sacryice ofAhror Christ on the CrosSy with The Brazen Serpent,
ham. the Madonna fainting.

Signatum christum Icti curantur

Puerum pater immolat istum. Serpentem dum speculantur.

Emit a tristi baratro nos passio Christi.

The Creation of Eve.

Moses striking the
JRock^

Femina prima viri
De costa cepit oriri.

26. *f.

The Cfucifixion^ and the
Soldier with the Spear
which pierced our Savi-
our's Side.

Est sacrammtum.

Christi dans petra fluentem*

De Cristo munda cum sanguine profluit unda.

.CHAF. Ill,] .BUBLIA PAUPERUAf. ;i^

n: ♦?£•♦

Joseph let down into The Mntombment of Jwah cast into the

the Well. Christ. Sea.

Hanc in cysternam Jonas glutitur

. Detraditur iste yetemam. . Tamen iUesus reperitar.

Mirmconditur et ab hys christns sepelitur.

David cutting off the Christ's Descent to Sampson hilling the

Head of Goliah^ Limbo. Lion.

Signans te christe Ut vis sampsonis

Golyam content iste. Destruxit ora leonis.

Fit cristi morte baratri destructio porte.

29. A,

Stmpsom carrying off The Resurrection vf our Jonah vomited up from

the Gates of Gaza. Saviour. the Whale's Betty.

Obsessus turbis De tumulo criste

' Sampson valvas tulit urbis. .Surgens te denotat iste.

Quern saxum texit irangens tnmulum ihesus exit

Ruben searching for his The Three Maries and 7^ Daughter of Sion

Brother in the Well. the Angel at the Sepulr seelm^forher Spouse.

chre.
Ruben sublatum Hec pia vota gmt

Puerum timet esse necatum. Dum (siponsum sedula querit

Quod vivas oiste certum docet angelus iste.

The King of Babylon Christ appearing to The Daughter of Sum
giving orders to re- Mary JUagdqletf in the discovering her

iease Daniel from the Garden. Spouse.

Den of Lions.
Rex jocundatur Sponso quesito

Hunc i^t vivum speculatur. Fruitur jam spoasa cupito.

Te monstrans piam solans criste mariam.

R 2

134 BIBLIA PAtTP£RUM. [chaf. nu

32. ♦tit

jMqfh disemerimg himr Christ appearing to his The Return t^the Pr<h

self to his Brethren. Disciples. digal San.

Quos vexit pridan Flens amplexatur

Blanditur fratribos idem. Natom pater ac recreatur.

HiB ihesus apparet sui^ixtis gloria claret

S3. TV

The Angd appearing The Incredulity of Jacob torestling with

to Gideon.' St. Thonuis. the Angel.

Angelas hortatur Ihsrael est dictus

Ne quid gedeon vereatur. Luctans Jacob b^iedictus.

Te patens christe palpari se dat ut iste.

34. 0

Enoch taken up into Hie Ascension. Elijah received vp into

Heaven, Heaven.

£noch translatns Celitus effisctus

CelestibuB est sociatus. Helia per aera yectus.

Sanctvis sanctorum christus petit astra polorum.

30fc fT^ ♦

Moses receiving the IThe Descent of the Holy Elijah's Sacrifice con-
Tables of the Law. Ghost upon the Apostles. sumed by Fire from

Heaven.
Est lex divina Celica flamma venit

Moysi data vertice Syna. £t plebis pectora laait

Pectora verorum replet almum pneuma virorum.
The subject in the centre is by no means inelegantly composed.
It is copied in the ^' Bibliotheca Spenceriana/' vol. i. p. xxvii.

36. M^

Solomon causing his IThe Coronation of the Hester and Ahasuerus.
Mother to sit by his side. Virgin .

Ingressam Matrem Hester ut ingreditur

Salomon sibi coUocat istam. Et assuuerum veneratur.

AsBuqiendo piam venerate criste mariam.

cHAF.iii.] BIBLIA PAtrPEKlTM. 135

37, r,

Th£ Judgment of Tlui Last Judgment. The Amalekite, who

SoUmum. slew Saul, killed by

the order of David.
Dicat nunc juste Ob domini cristum

Daitdus matri puer iste. Sic David judicat istum.

Judicio danmandos reprobos simul atque nephandos.

38. t

The Destruction of Hell. Sodom destroyed by

Korahj Dathan, and Fire from Heaven.

Abiram.

Hi terre dantur Ob crimen vite

Quia cristo non famnlantur. Traduntur sic Sodomite.

Sic affligontur penis qui prava sequuntur.

Mr. Dibdin has ako inserted a fac-simile of the middle subject of
this leaf at p. xxviii. of the work above mentioned. It is worthy of
remark that the subject is treated in a manner very similar to one
of the alto-relievos of Niccola or Giovanni Pisano on the fa9ade
of the Duomo at Orvieto, executed about 1300.

39. ♦ I? ♦

The Feast of the ChiU Christ bearing the Souls Jacob's Vision of the
dren of Job. of the blessed in his Ladder.

Mantle.

Job nati gaudent Angelas est visus

Quia sic feliciter audent* Jacob in hoc valde gavisus.

O ! pat« in celis me tecum pascere velis.

■ • *

The front figure of Christ, in the compartment in the centre, has
a considerable share of grandeur. It is introduced, p. xxix., in
Mr. Dibdin's work. The design of " Jacob's Vision of the Ladder*'

« J

m 31BLXK PAUPEBUM. Jchap. hi.

is one of the most agreeable ip the book> and is here copied.

40- .1).

The Daughter of Sim. The Reward of the St. John listening to

crowned hf her Spouse. Righteous. Christ is the converse of oh

about to place a Crown Angel.

upon the Head of a Per-

«on who is kneeUng be--

fore him,

Xavlb anime vere Sponsus amat sponsam

Sponsum bene Baisit habere. Cbristus nimis et speciosam.

Tunc gaudent anime sibi quando bonum datur onme.

CHAF.XII.2 BIBLIA paitferum; i^

■ Tliis last leaf is copied entire ia Heineken, " Idee Gen^rale,"
p. 393. The two figures of St. John and the Angel are remaxkahle
for their sober dignity of style, and I therefore close my selections
frotn the '* BibUa Pauperum" ^th this specimen ; the upper part
bi which will also be found copied in the " Bibliotheca Spen*

Of this work, in forty pieces, with the text in the Latin language, ,
Heineken describes four different; editions, beside^ another, aug-
mented by ten prints, which he terms the fifth edition. He declare
himself, however, unable to determine which is the earliest, ** If,"

i2li KBUA PAUPBRUM. [chap. in.

says he, '' I place them one aftier the other, it is only to explain
'^ the difference between them ; for I must candidly confess, that I
'' neither know which is the original, nor the epoch of either of the
" five. The engravers have copied each other with such exact**
^^ ness in preparing these editions" (he speaks here of the four first
editions with forty prints), " that there is very little difference be-»
'' tween one and the other: but there is some; and those who
examine them carefully, stroke by stroke, will find several small
variations ; although the design, and the manner of engraving, are
'' the same/' Heineken then points out certain marks by which
these different editions are to be distinguished.

" The edition,*' says he, '* which I call the first, is that where
upon the twenty-first print marked ^^^ the triangular space, over
the two pillars that divide the central subject from the two lateral
*' ones, is ornamented with a sort of star, thus :

4€

U
it

'^ whereas in all the other editions the space has this ornament :

€€

" The first edition moreover differs from the others in another
respect; the letters YL 0 V C ^^ ^^ second alphabet (num«
hers 33. 34. 37. and 38.) have no points on each side of them,

'' whereas in what I term the second and third editions they

" have points."
" The second edition," continues Heineken, " I consider that

'* wherein the ornament between the two niches, at the top, in

€t

the print marked 1^ (No. 28) is thus :

'^ and where, in the print J^ v-(^^) ^^ ^^^^ o^ Moses has two
'^ homs at the top of it — ^in this manner :"

CHAP. III.] BIBLIA PAtlPERtTM. 429

whereas, in the third edition, as he afterwards tells us, '^ this tiara» or
*' cap of Moses, has only a small button on the top of i^ thus :

The fourth edition,*' continues Heineken, " is more easily db»
tinguished ; the prints not being marked, like the other^, with the
letters of the alphabet Perhaps it may be the motst ancient
**' Who knows whether or not the copyist may have added
^ these letters afterwards, to guide the printer in arranging the
'* sheets?"

I should not have been thus minute in detailing the marks by
which Heineken distinguishes the various editions of this book, were
it not that Lord Spencer's copy, now before me, led me, upon my
first examination of it, to suspect some error in the German writer :
I mean independent of an error in the press, by which ^ ^ ^ is
termed No. 22 instead of No. 2L Nor could I account for it by
the supposition that this copy had been made up out of two incom-
plete copies of different editions ; since the paper is evidently of the
same ^quality ; the tint with which the prints are taken off is the
same ; and there is nothing whatever to indicate that the book has
at any time undergone alte^ration.

JLord Spencer s copy wants the points on each side of the letters!
TV 0 T^ C ^^^^ second alphabet ; and in that respect corresponds
with Heineken's description of the first edition ; whilst in all other
particulars it answers the description given by him of the second.
I find, however, that Heineken is correct in the descripition given
by him of the edition which he terms the first ; having lately had
an opportunity of examining the copy of the Biblia Pauperum^
preserved in the Bodleian Library, which is of that edition : but he
errs in asserting that the want of those points, on each dide of the said
letters, is a distinction exclusively belonging to that edition ; since
the edition which he calls the second is likewise without them.

I have already stated my belief that the edition which Heinekeil
places first (I say places first, because he confesses his inability to

130

BIBLIA PAUPERUM.

[CMAP^ UU

decide which, amongst all the editions he describes, is really the
original) is less ancient than that which he teims the second.

In Lord Spencer's copy, the paper, and the tint with which it is
printed, bear evidence of higher antiquity than the tint and paper
in the edition at the Bodleian library. The figures likewise are
marked with greater intelligence, and have more spirit and ex-
prettion : they appear moreover to have been engraved with greater
diligence ; although upon a sort of wood which was less calculated
for the purpose of engraving * than that used for the other ; all of
them, I think, indications of its priority.

Still I must acknowledge with Heineken, that the prints in these
two editions (for I have not had an opportunity of seeing the others)
so nearly resemble each other, that it is no easy matter for a com*
mon observer to distinguish the difference between them> except
upon a careful comparison, much less to decide as to their respective
pretensions to originality .f

^ The impresrioiiB m Lord Spencer Is copy,
tt least in many instances, have a sort of hori-
zontally striped and confused appearance,
ufaich leads me to suppoad that they were
taken from engravings executed on some kind
of wood of a coarse grain.

f I had not an opportunity of compofing
these two co{nes together: but I examined
the one only two days after I had carefully
fammined the other. The memorandums
which I made relative to the Bodleian copy,
on the spot, are as follow :

Biblia Patfpfrtfm— first edition, accord-
ing to HeinekeiH-complete— finrty priots.
The firints,- however, coloured, and recently
pasted down upon broad maigin, like an
ordinary book of prints. One of the colours
with which it is tmted is verdigrease, which
has become opaque, and thereby rendered the
strokes of the engraving, in those parts, very
difficult to distinguish. Another of the co-
lours which frequently occurs is a sort of

madder lake, shining, and apparently of the
same quality as Aat used on the Si» Bridgei,
thougli it is not laid on quite so thick.

The impressions in this copy have not duut
striped confused appearance that those in
Lord Spencei^s copj have; the letters are
more easy to read, and the tint with which
they are printed is of a greyer hue. The paper
is of a Ulster tint The blocks appear to
have been executed with less care, and in a
ruder and less finished manner, than those of
Lord Spencer*s edition, though still the hands
are often well indicated. Upon the whole I
am very much inclined to think Lord Spen^
cer's the earliest Besides the copy of the
Biblia Patq>erum, which Heineken (Jd€e
G6n£rale, d2£), upon the authority of Meer^
man, mentions in the Bodleian Libraiy, he
refers to another in the library of Corpus
Christi College at Oxford. This is an error.
No copy of the work exists in that col-
lection.

csAP. III.] BIBLIA PAUP£RUM« 131

Hie four first editions, according to Heineken, ere correct co[Mes
of each other.

li\iejifth edition differs fi'om them all ; not only in the number of
the prints, which is increased to fifty, but, also in the compositions
of the subjects, which, judging from a fac-simile given by Heineken
of the last print, were designed by an artist of a very different and
inferior school ; and are in a style not very unlike the more Gothic
productions of Israel Van Meek. They are engraved, however,
with great neatness of execution, and the characters of the inscrip*
tion are better formed, and cut with more precision, than those of
the former editions. I should judge this edition to be considerably
more recent than that from which I have made selections. It
nevertheless appears to be of extreme rarity, since Heinds:en knew
but of one copy of it, which was preserved in the library of the
convent of Wolfenbuttel.

I shall briefly mention the subjects by which this edition is aug-
mented, the verses accompanying them, the distinguishing idter
upon each, and the number of the leaf*

1. ^

jfes9e,fnmmhoHB0lig Tkt Birth of the Balaam md 9m Ajss,
rises the Qtnesih^ical Virgin. with ike Angel.

Tree of Christ.
Bic de radice Ex Jacob iMa

Processit virgula yesse. Processit stellula clara.

Sicut spina rosam genuit.

2. ^

The Marriage of Tobit The Marriage of the The Marriage of Isaab

and SartJk. Virgin. and Rebecca.

Fit tolyie sara Ut imphmittnr

Nuta del copulata. Promissa sic copidamtur

Est despons&ta Joseph hec virgo beata.

■

^ Tbe retfder mil obserre diat these letters edtdon alrady ^described,
are of a Ter; different farm ftom diose in Ike

132. BIBLIA PAUPERUM,, [chap. hi.

No. 9. contains the same subjects as No.. 1. in the preceding
editions.

4* D

Moses visited bjfJethro. , The Visitation ofEUzor The Leoite visiting his;

beth. Father-inrhw.

Hie consabrinum SKc gratulatur

Letantar susdpit ilium. Dum a socera visitatur. .

Hec neptan visitat infims gaudeudo insultat.

No.. 5. contains the same subjects as No. 3. in the foregoing
editions.

6. f^

The CireumcisioH of The Circununsion qf The Oreumcision qf

Abraham. Christ. Isaac.

Circumcisus. Abram Hie precepto tuo

Figuram denotat istam. Parat deus Yulnere scisso.

Observando legem Ihesus patitur lesionem.

Nos. 7. to 17. inclusive, contain the same subjects as Nos. 3. to 13;
in the preceding editions.

18. ^

Isaiak ^peeping for JO' Christ weq^ng for Jervr The LameiUatioH qf

rusalem. salem, Jeremiah.

Hie mala futura Flet jeremias

Deplorat maxima cura. Fundendo guttulas pias.

Christus deplorat locum gmiitibus.

Nos. 19. to 26. inclusive — Same subjects as Nos. 14. to 21. in the
preceding editions. No. 27. same as No. 23. in the -foregoing
editions.

28. (?,

Ltomech tormented 2y The Scourging of Job affUeted by Satan

his Two Wives. ^ Christ. in. the presence qf his

Wife.
lUusus iste Christum judei,

Te figurat Ihesum Gbiiste. Jiob ledunt crimiue rei.

Pelle thum plagas pro nobis suffereus istas

CHAP. HI.]

BIBLIA PAUPERUM.

laa

ACamcnbme taking the

Craumfram the Mead

of a King.

Staltus est Yere,

Qui spem ponit in muliere»

29. 6;

CkriH craumed
Thoms.

Jkmd.

Spemit hie regeqa
Verbis ikctis snfferentem.

Pro corona nobis celestia dona.

Nos. 30. and 31. contain the same subjects as Nos. 22. and 34. ii^
the preceding editions.

32. 9^

Lamech, Tubal Cain, Christ nailed to the The' Prophet Isaiah
mnd an Assistant^forg-^ Cross. sawed in two. •

ing Nails, i

Qoibns christnm cmcifigant. Fuit hie in arbore closas.

Hen sic ccmfixns sit pins et benedictns.

Nos. 33. 34.-^Same subjects as Nos. 25. 26. in the preceding

35. ?♦

Joshua causing the
Bodjf of the King of
Ai to be taken down
from the Cross. Jo-
shua, ch. viii.

Christ taken dawn from
the Cross.

Rex cum existit
Corpus deponere dixit

The Bodies of the
Seven Sons of Saul
taken doum from the
Crosses, to which they
had been €gfixed. —
//. Book of Kings
(viz. IL Book of So-
muelX eh. xxi.

Clavis confixi

Figura est ih€8n christL

Hie propter festum optat dqponere christnm.

^ I

lU SIBLU PAOPBRUML [cbap. tit.

Adam and Eve tiuheitt- Thie d&ad Bd^ (fCMst Nadmi imeiodig ike
ing the ihiatk of Abel, m the Lap tfthe Virgin. Death of her Sens.

Deplorant nraltum Hec natos plorat

Extincltnn ^tidlmiil istttlu. Functos jBebUiter oral

l^ascictilum mirre puto dilectuitf fedolere.

Nos. 37. to 50. inclusive, represent the same subjects at Nos. 27.
to 40. in tbe preceding editions.

The inscriptions in the five editions of the " Biblia Pauperum**
above described are in Latin. At l^gth, in 1470, an edition was
publishiBd with the text tttmstated into thie Gem[ian language. This
edition, tike the four first, contains ohly forty prints : the designs are
by another hand. Heineken has given a copy of the first leaf, in
his Id6e Gren^rale, p. 323. The composition of the Annunciation,
in the centre, is not ungracefiil ; but the style is more modem than
that of the other editions. Hie engravings, judging firom this copy,
are executed in a slight manner.

The last print of this edition is marked with the arms of the
engraver (as Heineken supposes) and the date, thus :

but nbtwithsttodin'g these arms, the name of the artist, atid even
the place ^heiie the work was published, remain unknown.

Another Getman edition of this book, by a different artist, is also
mentioned by Heineken : it has only forty prints, the ladt of which
is marked thus :

mi^^i

CBAP. HI.] WBLIA PAUP^RUM. 13#

The last figure is intended/ it is supposed, for a 5. The artist who
engraved this edition is likewise unknown.

Besides these several editions of the '' Biblia PauperUQi/' printed
with wooden blocks, there exist two in which the text is pri^t^ in
moveable characters ; one in the German, the other in the Latin
language. They were published from the press of Albrecbt Pfister,
at Bamberg, about 1462 ; although they are without date, and are
considered the earliest examples of books printed on both sides of
the page, with metal types, and decorated with wood-cuts.

Both these editions will be found correctly described in Mr. Dib-
din's Catalogue of Lord Spencer's magnificent library. Heineken
appears to have seen only one of them, — the German, — ^and to have
been ignorant of the printer's name. Mr. Dibdin has given copies
of one or two of the engravings ; which, in truth, fiimish no very
^vorable sample of the arts of Franconia, in 1462 ;* and will, I trust,
be admitted as not a little corroborative of the judgment I have
given as to the comparative merits of the early schools of art in
Germany and the Low Countries.

The original composition of this short abstract of holy writ, illus*
trated by designs of the chief stories of the Old and New Testament
is, it is probable, of great antiquity. Heineken describes a manu*
script of it, which he considers of the fourteenth century ; and
informs us that upon the first leaf of an incomplete copy of the
second edition of the Biblia Pauperum, in the royal library at
Hanover, some ancient possessor of the book had written thus :

S. Ansgarius est autor hujus libri.

" A hand less ancient," continues he, " has added, in the Ger-
" man language, to the following effect : ' This book of devout and

* I ctn by no means agree with Mr. Dib* tion et d'enaemble que dans les dessins des

din as to the propriety of Camus's observa- Editions anterieures/'' The word I am sure

lion, '' dmt although these cuts are * encore escaped him inadvertendy, for he justly ob»

tris-grossiires, il y a cependant plus d*hiten- serves of the cut representing '' Elijah car-

136

BIBLIA PACPERUM.

[chap. ni.

^' pious images was (probably) first invented^ in honour of God
^* and for the devotion of the laity (the word probably is written by
ff a more modern hand) by S. Ansgarius, the first bishop of Ham-
** burg/ He who wrote the word probably, has added : vid. * Claudii
f^ Omhielmi historia^ Sveonum Gothorumque ecclesiastica, lib. I.
f* cap. 2L p. m. 70. item Tenzel, et la vieille Chronique et Histoire
^f de Zeeland.' Ansgarius, a native of France, and a monk of the
i^ convent of Corbie/' continues Heineken, '* was sent into lower
*' Saxony, and towards the North, to convert the Pagans ; on which
^^ account he was styled the Apostle of the Northern Nations. In
^^^ the year 831, he was created the first Bishop of Hamburg, and
*f in 844 he was translated to the Bishoprick of Bremen, where he
" died in 864."

Heineken saw, ^* in the cloister of the church termed the Dom^
^^ at Bremen, two bassireUevi sculptured in stone, the figures of
*' which are of a middle »ze, and line for line the same as those in
*^ the German^ edition of the Biblia Pauperum. One of them is
'' in the first arch of the vault, close to the principal entrance of the
'' church ; and represents, in the middle, the Annunciation ; and,
'^ on either side. Eve tempted by the Serpent, and Gideon with the
'^ Fleece. At bottom are the two busts of prophets, and the same
^' Latin inscription : Legitur in Genesi, Sec. in Gothic characters ;
*' and also the same verses :

" Vipera vim perdit " Rore madet vellus

** Sine vi pariente puella, " Pluviam sitit arida tellus.

'^ Virgo salutatur imiupta manens gravidatur.

ped up to heftVen," tbat it is singularly groT
tesque and ridiculous; epithet^ very iniip-
plicable to the prints in the first editions of
th^ Biblia Pauperum, which, although in a
dry style, were evidently designed by the
h«nd of one who, in his time, merited the
appellation of master.
* Of course Heineken means the first

edition, which, indeed, as wdl as the others,
h^ ascribes to the school of Germany. The
inscriptions accompanying those bassirelievi,
were in the latin hingaage, and, of conse-
quence, he cannot mean to compare theni
to the engravings in the edition printed witb
the inscriptions in the German tongue*

CHAF. in.] BIBLIA PAUPERUM» 137

^' In the eighth arch of the vault is Represented, in lik^ manner^
^^ the baptism of Christ ; and, on each side of it^ Pharaoh drowned
'' in the Red Sea, and the two Spies carrying the bunch of grapes ;
^ with the same Latin inscriptions. It is probable that the oth^r
** arches were anciently ornamented with the rest of these subjects^
^< which may have been defaced and destroyed in the Commo^
'^ tions and revolutions that have befallen Bremen/'

Heineken seems to consider it not quite impossible that thisi
sculpture might have beetL executed under the directions of Ansga*
tius himself, — that is, iti the middle of the ninth century. • For my
own part^ I am very much inclined to doubt the existence of any
cloister or church with an arched roof^ divided, as this appears to
be> by groins, of so high an antiquity, throughout Germany, or^
indeed, any where else,.

Ansgarius, however, might still have been the original author of
the " Biblia Pauperum/' *' The words of Omhielm," as Heineken
observes, *' are remarkable.* He says that books were attributed

to Ansgarius, written by cyphers and images, (per numeros et

signa,) which were called pigmenta, — ^paintings. Perhaps," con-
tinues Heineken, '' these words occasioned the ancient possessor
" of the copy at Hanover, to attribute the book to this bishop."

Such may indeed have been the case: but it is very possible
that that person had some further traditional authority for ascribing
it to Ansgarius. The bassirelievi in the cloister of Bremen, even
supposing them to be not earlier than the thirteenth or fourteenth
century, may still be considered as in some degree corroborative of

€€

* These are hb words: ^* Xngenii mona- pericopas et sententiaSy ipsi io quotidianam

inenta aliqua reliquisse Tidetur, sed quorum usum delectas ^xcerptasque, ac numeris H-

iMilla posterorum cura ad nos per?enermt. brorum capitumqoe enotatas, ut, cttm usus

]St qmdeni quos per fmmeroi et tigna coo- requkerit, ad maoum esseot, ezdtandae pietad

scripsisse eum libros Rembertus memorat, ac resipiscentiae, nee non frequeuti medi-

indighatos pigtnentarum .vocabulo, eos coo- tatiooi mortis ad eztrenu illius rigidissiiiii

timiisse pahm est quasdam aut e dtvinamm judicii/'
htttmntBH, aut pie doctoram patrum scriptis,

138 THE BOOK OF CAMUCLES. [chap. iii«

the story ; since they might have been executed in honor of the
Apostle of the North, and in remembrance of his method of
instructing the people in liie mysteries of the Christian religion,
upon the rebuilding or restoration of the church oyer which he
presided; and were, perhaps, copied from or r^iewed upon
the authority of more ancient sculptures or |mintings then in
existence, or even from manuscripts ascribed to Ansgarius
himself

But, howevCT ancient the original inv«[itioQ of liie woric, the age of
the several engraved editions of it without date, must still, in a great
measure, remain conjectural. The four editions first mentioned
appear to have been copied from each other. That from which
specimens have been given, is, in my c^inion, as before observed, a
production of the Low Countries or of Holland; and I am very
much inclined to think it of a date not lat» than 1420 ;* but I speak
with less confidence on this point, as, from the comm^oicement of
the fifteenth century until near its close, very little change of style
is to be discovered in the designs of the artists of those schools.

HiSTOKiA SEU Providentia Vibginis Mahiae,

EX Cantico Canticobum.

Such is the title given by Heineken to a small folio volume com-
posed of thirty-two subjects taken from the Book of Canticles, and
printed, two on each lea^ from engraved wooden blocks, on one
side of the paper only. These prints are interspersed with passages
of text, engraved in large characters, on scrolls fantastically dis-
posed amongst the figures ; a circumstance which gives to the whole
work a very singular appearance, and no doubt occasioned Hei-
neken, who was blind to its real merits, to term it ''the mosit
Gothic of all the block-books.''^ Lamfainet, hawerer, is incorrect

* See p. 99* ment upon this oectaioa (IcKe, tec. p. S74)

t The impropriety of Heinek^'s judg- cMnotemye the«oticeofMr.DMin,«faD

CHAP. III.]

THE BOOK OF CANTICLES:

130

when he says that *^ some of the scrolls proceed from the mouths of
the figures/' The leaves, like those of the ^^ Biblia Paupenim/*
are pasted back to back.

Heineken mentions two editions of this book ; the first, of course,
in his opinion, engraved and published in Germany ; the second,
copied from it in Holland or Flanders.

Of the former edition, the Count Pertusati, he informs us, pos*
sesses a complete copy ; that Mr. Verdussen of Antwerp had one
similar ; and that a third copy is preserved in the Bodleian library.
The Hotel de Ville at Harlem, possesses an incomplete copy of the
latter edition ; which, according to Meermah (p. 225) was purchased
from the heirs or descendants of Laurence Coster. This copy,
it appears, has, at the top of the first leaf, the following Flemish or
Dutch inscription engraved in wood.

Dft is Hie borsin&lieft tat ffoait Her nuflii^ 8rtie& en
im geliete in Urt^« cati.

Heindcen insists that ^' this inscription proves that the copy at

justly observes of the work before us (BibKo^
theca Spenceriana, voL i p. zxxvi) ** that it
'' \s, upon the whole, very greatly superior to
<* the generality of booksi of this description/'

The same writer, however, has framed an
hypothesis relatuq; to the mode in which the
impressions of this curious work were pro-
duced, which is not equally well-founded.

He observes (p. xlii) that '' after the most
'' careful examination of this very early and
^' carious specimen of the graphic art, he
" inclines stroqgly to the opinion that it is
'' die production of some metallic substance,
'^ and not struck off from wooden blocks.**

I do not think it necessary to go into the
aignment by which Mr. Dibdin endeavours

to support his opinion, (formed, like that of
Mr. Landseer before noticed, upon the saip-
posed inadequacy of wood ei^raving to pro-
duce that sharpness and precision in the
strokes, by which the work I am speaking of
is distinguished,) because four pages of Lord
Spencer's copy, now before me, Aunisb
undoubted evidence that the engravings from
which the impressions were taken, were exe-
cuted on blocks of wood. This evidence I
shall presently produce — ^meanwhile, I feel
myself obliged to protest against what, upon
the same occasion, my friend has advanced,
relative to the priority of German over Italian
chalcography, and the silly credulity diaplayed
by PapUlon in his story of the two Ctmio*

T 2

3140 THE BOOK OF CANTICLES. [chap, iil

^^ Harlem is of a later edition, printed after the Latin one."* Hti
adds, ^' that it is well known that the first printed books have no
'' titles, and more especially those printed from engraved Wooden
" blocks/' But there is, I think, reason to suspect that the above title
(which, from its being in the Flemish or Dutch language, whilst the
text of the work itself is in Latin, produces a strange anomaly) is
not genuine ; and that it is no other than a silly fraud devised by
some one of the compatriots of Coster, for the purpose of establish^
ing a fact which it is, in reality, better calculated to overthrow.^
JLiord Spencer's copy of this book corresponds in every respect
with the description of the one at Harlem, except that it has no such
title : it is entire, and its margins are in such perfect preservation,
as to leave no doubt that it is in the same state in which it was
published.

Heineken endeavours to draw another argument in favor of the
originality of the edition possessed by Pertusati, Verdussen, and the
Bodleian Library, from the various errors, in that edition, in the
Latin inscriptions on the scrolls ; which, he says, are corrected in
the other edition. But it is evident that this circumstance makes in
favor of an opposite conclusion. The artist who originally invented
the work must have been well acquainted with Latin, since it is, in
fact, no other than an union of many of the most beautifril verses
of the book of Canticles, with a series of designs illustrative of the
divine mysteries supposed to be revealed in that sacred poem ; and
consequently we have reason td consider that edition the original, in
which the inscriptions are given with the most correctness ; and to
ascribe the gross blunders in the other, to the ignorance of some
ordinary wood engraver by whom the work was copied.

^ It 18 not very easy to understand what f Since writing the above> \ find that

Heineken means in this passage-^The text in Scriverius^ in speaking of ** the Book of

both the editions is in Latin. Hemeken, Canticles,'' mentions the Dutch title. That

it may be proper to observe, has brought no title is, therefore, not a very recent inven-

proof whatever that either of the editions was tion.
published in Germany.

CHAP, jii.] THE BOOK OF CANTICLES. 141

Bui, independent of the inscriptions, in the edition possessed by
Lord Spenceri being free from most of the errors found in the other>
the figures themselves, in that edition, have every characteristic of
originality : they are designed and executed v^ith great care and
delicacy; but^ at the same time, with so much freedom, intelli*-
gence, and masterly decision in every part, as to leave no doubt
that they were engraved upoa the original designs of an artist of no
ordinary abilities in those early times.

The figures in the edition in the Bodleian Library are, it is true,
by no means deficient in spirit ; but they want much of the cleam
ness and precision so remarkable in the others, and are, moreover^
of very unequal merit; some of the heads, for example^ having
great beauty^ whilst others are carelessly executed, and what artists!
term very much out of drawing. Upon the whole, therefore, after
tt very careful examination of both the editions, I feel little hesita«>
tion in pronouncing that edition the first which Heineken terms

the SECOND.

Lambinet, I suspect, is in error, when he tells us that '^ Gaignat
possessed a copy of this book in which the inscriptions were printed
'm moveable characters;'' he is certainly mistaken when he asserts
'^ that in the Bodleian Library to be so/' He, however, describea
a copy in the imperial library at Paris which, (unless he examined
it with the most culpable negligence) must be very different from
the two editions above mentioned. " The text," he says, " is
^' printed on both sides of the leaves, and bears the date 1470 : the
^* figures," he adds, ♦* appear to be more ancient than that epoch/'*

Having given my reasons for believing that edition of the block-i

* '' Origine de rimprimerie/' torn. i. after meDtioDing the two first editioiu of the

p. 69* What Lambinet means by the text ** Book of Canticles,'' (p» S1&) says in n

h&ag printed on both sides the paper, unless note : ** L'exemplsure de I^ biblioth^ue m^

he intends to infer that the figures are also *^ tionale est d'une Edition p08t6rieure i ces

printed on both sides, I am at a loss to ima- *^ deux-li ; il est dat6 de 1470* Les feuillets

gine» M. Daunou, in his ** Analyse," m- '^ y sont imprimfo des deux c6t&.''
aerted torn. i. p. 311. of lAmbinet's work^

t49 THE BOOK OF CANTICL£8. [chap. nr«^

book under consideration to be the^stp which Hdnd^en terms the
second, I now proceed to speak of Lord Spencer's copy, which, aa
has been said, is of the fibst edition.

Upon first viewing this work, I was of opinion that each of the*
designs contained in it was engraved upon a separate block of wood:*
but, upon a more careful examination, I have discovered that the
contents of each two pages^ — ^that is, four subjects, — ^were engraved
on the same block. The number of wooden blocks, therefore, from
which the whole was printed, was only eight. This is proved in
the first two pages of the copy before me ; where, near the bottom
of the two upper subjects, the bl6ck appears to have been broken in
two, in a horizontal direction,--aiier it was engraved, — and joined
together again ; although not with such exactness but that the tracei
of the operation clearly show themselves. The traces of a similar
acddent are still more apparent in the last block, containing the
Nos* 29> 30, 31 » 32. The whole work was, therefore, printed on
eight sheets of paper fi^om the same number of engraved blocks;
the first four subjects being printed fi*om the same block upon the
same sheet, — ^and so on with the rest ; and, indeed, in Lord Splicer's
copy, each sheet, being mounted upon a guard, distinctly shows
itself entire.

I consider this work to be without doubt of the same school as the
edition of the " Biblia Pauperum," of which specimens have been
given ; but somewhat less ancient. The manner of expressing the
foliage of the trees by gently curved touches, ranged over each other
in a horizontal direction ; and of indicating the clumps of herbage
by a few strokes placed perpendicularly in the middle, and diverging
at each side ; is the same in both : — every thing testifies that both are
the productions of artists who had gone through the same routine of
study, and thereby acquired the same systematic mode of charac-
terizing particular objects.* Nevertheless, there is a lightness and

* There is, I think, indeed, good reason '' the Book of Canticles,'' and the " Spe^
to believe Aat the '' Biblia Pauperum," colum Salnttioois," were, in great part, eiH

CBAP. III.] THE BOOK OF CANTICLES. 143

gracefulness in the figures in the book now before us, which distinguish
it from all the other block-books I ain acquainted with, and proclaim
its author the Parmigiano of his school. The characters of the
inscriptions, also, are executed with greater neatness and precision
than those <^ the Biblia Pauperum, and the impressions are taken
off with a darker brown.

I will not attanpt to describe these prints individually ; for, as
the chief actors in most of them are the same, they of course a
good deal resemble one another. I shall satisfy myself with men-
tioning the number of scrolls on each design ; the first words of each
inscription, where, with the help of the Vulgate Bible, I am able
to make them out; and, to facilitate reference, I shall add the
chapter and verse firom which each inscription is taken. As I pro-
ceed, I shall select a few specimens, which, from the correctness of
the artist who copies them, will enable those who have not an op-
portunity of seeing the original work, to f<mn some idea of its
merits.

The reader is, no^ doubt, aware, that all diose passages in the
Book of Canticles which we consider typical or prophetic of Christ's
love for his Church, are, in the Roman Catholic Church, considered
applicable to the Madonna, who, of consequence, is a principal
figure in each of the engravings.

Bloek IMffh

I. 1. This composition it illustrated by two inscriptions on

•croljlfi. l^ie first is as follows : Osculetur me osculo
^ris sui : quia fneUora $unt ubera tua mno. (Cant. cap. i.
V. 1.) In the edition which Heineken calls the First,
the word vino is erroneously written viro. The second
scroll has this inscription : Vem in artum^ meum soror

graved by the same vrooSreagmyer, although as I cwM^ aa it » in the original. The H,

from the designs of diffSerent artists. I shall as in the word HorUim, is generally omitted :

speak farther on diis sobject when I come to the letter i is freqaently sobstitnted for the j,

treat of ihe last mentioned work. and Ike 7 for ihe i : the diphthong », as in

* I have given the orthography, as nearly filis, b constantly written with the e alone.

J44 THE BOOK OF CANTICLES. Ichaf. hi.

Hock Deggn

mea spamaf messui mrrham meam cum aromatibm meis :
(cap* Y* V. 1.) In the other edition the word mesm
i3 written memnn

2. Two scrolls — on the first: Caput tuum ut Carmelus : Col*
lum tuum sicut turris ebumea (cap. vii. v, 4. 5.) The
inscription on the second scroll begins thus : Nigra
sum sedfQrmo9a,JUie Jerwakm, S^. (cap. i. y. 4.) This
leaf is copied on a reduced scale in Heineken (Id6e
G^nerale, p. 374.)

3« There are two scrolls also in this print, the first is in*
scribed ; Trahe me : post te curremusin odorem unguent^
wum tuorum (cap. ii. v. 14.) The second ; Sonet vo3(
tua in auribus meis ; ^c,

4. This has also two scrolls, the inscriptions on which
commence ; En dilectus metis loquitur mihi : Surge, S^c^
(cap. ii. V. 10.) and Quam pulchra es arnica mea, ^^Ci
(cap. iv. V. !•

II. 5. Two scrolls — on the first; QtuiUs est dilectus tuus, ^.

(cap^ V. V. 9») The second scroll begins : Dilectus
mens Candidas, 4^. (cap. v. v. 10.)

6. There is only one scroll in this composition: the in-
scription begins : Adfuro wsJUie Jerusalem, per capreas
cervosque, ^. — In the other edition the word capreas
is written capitas, and cervosque appears tervosque.

7» This composition has two scrolls. The inscription in
the first begins : Ertmt verba (not ubera as in the Vul-
gate) tua sicut botri vinee, ^. (cap. vii. v. 8.) The
other edition has also the word verba. The second
inscription begins : Bptrus dpri dilectus mem mihi, ^.
(cap. i, V. 13.)

8m There are three scrolU in this composition* The first
words on them are : Ortus conclusus est, ^* (cap. iv«.

■

CSAP- HI-] JTHE BOOK OF CANTICLBS- 147

Block Design

y. 12.) Fans artorum puteaB aquarwHf 4^. (cap. iv.
y. 15.) Surge, ^. I am not able to decipher the
third inscription.

III. 9. The figures in this composition are less incommoded by

the scrolls, than is the case in most of the others ; for
which reason I haye selected it as a specimen by
which the reader may be enabled to form some idea
of the general style of the work. It might seem un-
necessary that I should say any thing concerning the
inscriptions on this print, as they are correctly giyen
in the copy: neyertheless, for the conyenience of
those who are not used to the abbreyiations so fre-
quent in the old block-books, the words are here sub-
joined : Dilectus meus nuhi, et ego iUi, qui pasdtur
inter hfUa. (cap. ii. y. 16.) Ego Jlos campif et lyUum
conoaUium. (cap. ii. y. 1.)

10. There are two scrolls in this composition also. Pukhre

mint gene tue, ^. (cap. i. y. 9.) Leva ejus sub capite
meo, ^. (cap. yiii. y. 3.)

11. This has also two inscriptions on scrolls ; the first com-

mences : Que hdbUas in ortis, S^. (cap. yiii. y. 13.)
The other, I am not able to decipher.

12. There are no less than seyen scrolls, containing the

same number of inscriptions, interspersed among the
figures in this composition ; a circumstance that giyes
it a yery singular appearance, and much diminishes
the effect of the figures, which, though of yery small
dimensions, haye a consid^^ble share of beauty. I
shall content myself with giying the beginning of two
or three of the inscriptions : Qfio abiit dilectus tuus, 4^.
(cap. y. y. 17.) SH Hostium est compingamus iUud, SfC.

148 THE BOOR OF CANTICLES. [chap. in.

Block Vtnga

(taken from cap. yiii. v. 10, but altered.) Vtdnerasti
car meum, 4^. (cap. iv. v. 9.)

IV. 13. Two scrolls : Descendi in hartum meum, ^. (cap. vi.

y. 10.) TaUs est dUectw meus, ^. (cap. v. v. 16.)

14. Two scrolls : Aperi mhi swor mea, ^. (cap. v. v. 2.)

Pesstdum Hastii md, S^. (cap. y. y. 6.)

15. Two scrolls : Indica ndhi quern dUigit, ^. (cap. i. y. 6.)

Si ignaras te 6 ptUchrOf 4^. (cap. i. y. 7.)

16. Two scrolls : Afdma mea Uquefacta est, S^. (cap. y. y. 6.)

Statura (it is written Cratura or Gratura) tua assimilata
estpalme etuhera tua hotris. (cap. yii. y. 7.)

V. 17. Two scrolls : Quis ndhi det tefratrem, ^. (cap. yiii. y. 1.)

Ecce quam pukhra es, ^. (cap. yii. y. 6.)

18. Two scrolls : Famsdistilkms labia tua, ^. (cap. iy. y. 1 1.)

Comedi fcmim cum meUe meo, bibi vinum meum cum
lacte meo : (cap. y . y. 1 .) Mr. Dibdin has inserted
• part of. this composition in the first yolume of his
Bibliotheca Spenceriana, p. xxxix.

19. There are three scrolls in this composition : Si dederit

homo amnem^ibstantiam suam pro dUectione, ^. (cap. yiii.
y. 7.) Lampades ejus sicut Lampades ignis, ^. (cap. yiii*
y. 6.) Aque multe non potuerunt extinguere charitatem :
(cap. yiii. y. 7.)

20. Two scrolls : Que est ista que ascendit de deserto, ^.

(cap. yiii. y. 5.) 1 cannot find the other inscription,
which begins Ista est speciosa, ^. in the Vulgate. —
The figure of the Virgin carried up to heayen by an
eagle, is copied at p. xi. of the first yolume of the
Bibliotheca. Spenceriana.

CHAP, ni.} THE BOOK OF CANTICLES. 149

Blodc De^

VI. 21. Two scrolls. Ecce dilecto meo et ad me comenio, ^.
(cap. vii. V. 10.) Recertere, revertere stdamitis, 4^.
(cap. vi. V. 12.)

22. Two scrolls. I cannot make out dther of the inscrip-

tions upon them. On a mount, in the distance, ap-
pears the figure of Christ on the Cross, which, though
of very minute dimensions, is drawn in every part
with great intelligence, and is full of expression.

23. Three scrolls. Dilecti me, egrediarmtr in agrum, ^.

(c(q>. vii. V. 11.) Madragore odorem dederunt in portis
nosttis. (cap. vii. v. 13.) Videamus sijhruit vinea, ^.
(cap. vii. V. 12. The figures in this design are prettily
rouped, and are full of feeling and expression.

IM THB BOOK OF CANTICLBSL [chap ui.

Block Dm^

24.. There is but one scroll ia this compartment Ftacicuha
mirre dilectus meus ndhip. 4^. (cap. i. v. 13.) The vir«
gin is represented supporting a crucifix.

VI L 25* Two scrolls. jSWt^m et circuibo doitatem, 4^. cap. iiL

v. 2.) The other insciiption is not easy to decipher^
and does not appear to corMspondr with any verse in
the Vulgate. There ieure no. less than twelve small
figures in lliis composition, independent of the two
armed men on horseback, which Mr. Dibdin has in-
serted at p. xli. of his Bibliotheca Spenceriana. They
are all of them executed with surprising delicacy ;
especially the four half figures of a Pope, two Car-
dinals, and a Bishop, who are represented each with
a sword and a shield, and whose heads are full of
character and expression.

26. Two scrolls. The inscription on one of them does not
appear to have been taken from any verse in the
Canticles, and begins ; — Comedite andci et bibite, $^.
The other inscription is ; — Guttur ilUus sicut vinum
optimum, dignum dilecto meo ad portandum. (cap. vii.
V. 9.) Christ appears, seated at a table, accompanied
by the Virgin Mary and three female attendants :
on the table are four chalices and three consecrated
wafers.

2T. Two scrolls. Tota pulchra es arnica mea, ^. (cap. iv.
V. 7.) Tenui eum, nee dimittam, ^. (cap. iii. v. 4.)

28. Two scrolls. Ecce ptdchra es arnica mea, ^. (cap. i.
V. 14.) Ecce tuptUcher es dUecte mi, et decorus. Lee--
tulns noster Jloridtis, (cap. i. v. 15.) The subjoined

CHAP. III.] THE BOOK OF CAI*rnCLES. 151

Btock DaigD

group, extracted frtmi this compartment, is remark-
able for its easy gracdiilness.

VIII. 39. Hiis composition has three scrolls. Mille chfpd pendattt
4fc. (cap. iv. V. 4.) Ego Mums: et ubera mea ticut
turris, ^. (cap. viii. v. 10.) CoUum tuum skut turns
que edi^icata est cum propugnacuUs. (cap. rii. v. 4. et
cap. iv. V. 4.) In this composition are two figures of
angels, the draperies of which are admirable. They
will be foimd copied after our description of the last
print of the series.
30. Two scrolls. Ego dormio et cor mewn vigilat. (cap. v.
T. 3.) In iectuhm salomoms sexaginta fortes an^unt,
omaes tenentes gladios. (cap. iii. v. 7. 8.) The group
of warriors, standing behind the bed, is interesting iiy

16S TH£ BOOK OF CANTICLES: [chap. hi.

Uock Dc^

the varieties of armour, of which it furnishes spe-
cimens.

31. TVo scrolls. Pone me ut signacuhtm super cor tman.
(cap. viii. v. 6.) I camiot find the other inscription
in the Vulgate, nor can I read it Christ and the Ma-
donna are represented supporting a large seal or
stamp, on which is designed the mystery of the Trinity.

S3. Two scrolls. Species ejus ut Ubani, electus ut cedri, ttUis
est tUlectus mens. (cap. v. v, 15. 16.) Veni de Lybano
Sponsa mea vem de Lybano, veni coronaberis. I close
my selections from this volume with the figure of
Christ, who is represented about to crown the
Madonna ; and I have placed on each side of it the
two angels mentioned under No. 29.

CHAP, iiij SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 163

It has already been observed that Heineken, in speaking of this
work, styles that edition the jf£r«£, which I term the secwid. His
enumeration of the pieces it contains is according to this latter
edition, wher^n some of the leaves appear to be placed differently
from what they are in the original edition before us. Heineken sup-
poses that the two subjects contained in each page, were engraved
on one block ; and consequently he only gives the beginning of the
first inscription in the upper compartment of each of the sixteen
pages. In the copy, which he describes, the four first pages, viz.
Nos. L 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. are placed as in the copy before us ; then
come the two pages which I have described under Nos. 17. 18.
19. 20. ; after tihese follow the two pages containing the Nos. 9. 10
•r^ll. 12. ; and then the two pages containing Nos. 21. 22 — 23. 24. :
these are followed by the pages containing Nos. 13. 14 — 15. 16;
and lastly come the four pages, Nos. 25. 26 — ^27. 28 — ^29. 30 —
31. 32. I shall not attempt to account for this arrangement
6f the pages, so different from that of the original edition ; but I
thought it necessary to notice the circumstance, as the copy in the
Bodleian Library, like that of Mr. Verdussen, at Antwerp, is
arranged conformably to Heineken's list. See Heineken's " Id^e
G6n6rale,'* p. 374. I must not omit to observe, that the Bodleian
copy has been newly bound, and that each leaf is pasted down
on paper of larger dimensions, in the ordinary way of mounting
prints ; so that the impressions do not alternately face each other,
as they did anciently. This copy is also coloured.

Speculum Humanae Salvationis;

called also

Speculum Figuratum.

The last block-book that I have undertaken to describe, is the
*• Speculum Salvationist' so celebrated iii the annals of typogra*

IM SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

phical controversy; if indeed fiie appellation of biock<*book can pro-
perly be given to a work like the present^ in which the text, accom^
panying the figures, is printed, for the most part, with moveable
characters, in one edition of it, and, in the other editions, entirely so.
In truth, it seems to hold a distinct place, midway between the ordi^
nary books^ printed entirdy fr<»n engraved wood^i blocks, and the
first specimens of typography in its mature state ; and is therefore,
independent of its intrinsic merit, and the story attached to it^
particularly interesting. I shiedl first briefiy describe the work itself,
and ^all afterwards offer some remarks on the long disputed
question of its origin.

This Work, like the'* BibliaPauperum,*' and the ^^Bookof Canticles/
is cf a small folio size, and is printed on one ride of the paper only.
Thiere are four or five editions of it, in which the cuts are not copied
firom each other> (as in four of the editions of the Biblia Pauperum*
and the two editions of the Book of Canticles ;) but taken off firom
the same engraved blocks ; besides two or three editions published^
several years later, as it is su(^osed, in Germany, with figures
designed and engraved in a much ruder style. I shall speak princi-
pally of the two editions which I have se^i, in one of which the text
is in the Latin — ^in the other, in the Dutch language,
t The Latin edition is comprised in thirty*one sheets and a halC
divided, according to Heineken, into five quires, or gatherings*
llie first gathering is of only five leaves, and contains a sort of in«
troduction to the work, descriptive of its contents ; the second, the
third, and the fourth gatherings, have each of them fourteen leaves,
and the fifth has sixteen leaves ; making in all sixty-three leaves.
This edition is, by most writers, considered the first ; but its priority
is by no means certain, as I shall hereafter shew.

In the Dutch edition, the introduction occupies only four leaves,
and consequently there are only sixty-two leaves in the whole.

Afi:er the introduction, in both these editions, the remaining fifty-
eight leaves are omam^ited at top by wooden cuts of an oblong
fonHy each of them divided in the middle by a slight Gothic pillar^

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONia 15£

into two compartments; so that each cut contains two designs.
These designs^ for the moet part, represent stoiies. of the Old or
New Testament ; but the subjects of some of them are taken from
passages of profane history,, which the author of the work thought
typical of the cTcnts recorded in sacred writ Each subject has
underneath it a short Latin inscription engraved on the- same
block, indep^ident of the text, which is printed in two columns,
and occupies the remainder of the page* The cuts are taken off
like those of the two block-books already described, by means of
£ricticxi, with a brown tint^ in distemper.

I have observed in a former page* .that there is reason to believe
that the /^Bibua Pauperubi," the ** Boos of Canticles,'' and the
cuts of the ** Speculum Salvationis," were engraved in great part
by the same wood-engraver, although from the designs of different
artists. The remark, however, must be understood with some limi-
tations. Hiere is little doubt that the principal wood-engravers of
tiiose times had pupils who assisted them in executing the exten*
sive works confided< to their care. That part of a cut which re-
quired little skill, or that entire design which least captivated the
taste of the master^ was often entrusted to the scholar ; and hence
those occasional dissimilarities of execution which a careful observer
will discover in different cuts of the same block-book, (especially in
accessorial parts) although their general style be the same, and
^though they bear every evidence of having proceeded from the
work-shop of one master-artist Several of the cuts in the Speculum
bear so striking a resemblance to some of those in the BibUa Fau-
perum, as to leave little or no doubt that they were engraved by
the sainehand; others, in their mode of execution, exactly corre-
spond with some of those in the Book of Canticles. Upon the
whi4€^ therefore, I am of opinion that the same engraver, who had
been en^loyed to execute the blocira of the Biblia Pauperum, waa
also, but at a later period, entrusted with those of the Book of Can^

• See note, p. 142. '

X 2

156 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS; [chap. hi.

tides ; and. lastly, or about the same time^ with those of the
8peculum ; which work it is probable he did not live to complete;
since the latter cuts of the Speculum, as I shall again have occasion,
to notice, were evidently engraved by a distinct artist from the one
employed in the former part of that work; and, I think, from the
compositions of a different designer,

Heineken observes, that the cuts of the Speculum appear to have
been engraved on wood of a hard and close grain> and that he can-.
i)ot sufficiently admire the skill of the artist by whom they were
executed. " The most able engraver of our own times,'* says he,

could not surpass them, nor cut the wood with more delicacy and

clearness:'' an eulogium not wholly unmerited, although, upon
the whole, the engravings in the Speculum possess these qualities in
a less eminent degree than those of the Book of Canticles.

Before I proceed to lay before the reader a list of the cuts in this
curious volume, it is necessary for me to observe, that in the ancient
manuscripts of the Speculum Salvationb, when they are entire, the
work is composed of a preface and forty-five chapters, in prose
Liatin, with rhythmical terminations to the lines.

The preface contains a short account of the contents of the chap-
ters. In each chapter, one principal subject is proposed ; but three
others, which the author considered allusive to the principal subject^
are afterwards introduced. The subjects, for the most part, are
taken from the Bible, or from the traditional history of the church ;
but some of them are selected from profane history. The three last
chapters have, each of them, eight subjects. Thus.Heineken informs
us. that, in the illumined manuscripts of this work, he invariably
found that every chapter was ornamented with two paintings, each
divided into two compartments, and containing two subjects;
except the three last chapters, which had each of them four paint-
ings, or eight subjects. The work therefore, when complete, should
cpntaii) the designs of one hundred and ninetyrtwo subjects, whe]rea&
the first printed editions of the Speculum have only fifly-eight cuts,
or one hundred and sixteen <]|esigns.

.Ill] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVAMONIS: lfi7

In the course of the following catalogue of the engraved designs^
I shall occasionally notice what I find commendable or i defective
and from such spontaneous remarks, added to the specimens whicih
will be presented to the reader, he will be best enabled to judge of
their pretensions as works of art, or at least of the opinion of the
writer concerning them.

Each cut, as has already been said, contains two historical re-
presentations, with short Latin inscriptions underneath them, ex-
planatory of their subjects. They are plac^ in the following
order.

Cap. I.

Imprcflrion

1. The Fall of Lucifer. The Creation of Eve.

Casus Luciferi. Deus creavit hominem ad ymaginem

et similitudinem suam.

Heineken has given an indifferent copy of this print in his
Generale, p. 443. It is also copied in Meerman.

2. Adam and Eve forbidden to eat Eve deceived by the Serpent,
of the Tree of Knowledge.

De omni ligno paradisi commeditis. JN^equaquam moriemini sed eritis

sicut discemeiites, &c.

The naked figures of Adam and Eve in this and the following
leaf, are drawn in a miserable style.

Cap. II.

3. Adam and Eve eating the for- Adam and Eve driven out of Para-

. hidden. Fruit. disc. . .

Mulier decepit Tirum ut secum Angelus expulit eos de paradise

commederet. gladio ignito.

•

A. Adam digging the Ground^ and The Ark of Noah.
Eve spinmng.

ic Adam operatur terram in su* Archa Noe.
dore yultUB 8iii«

IM SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIOMS. [chap. hi.

The figure of Eve spinning, vith the infimt Cain seated in her
l«|ik is not inelegantly oompcaed.

Cap. III.

6. Tie Birlh of tie Virgin pn- King Aoiaga tea lit Vine/mdin
dieted. a Vision. ^

Hie annunciatiir ortua Marie. Rex Astrages mirabile vidit somp-

nium.

The back-ground of the left hand compartment, represents a
shepherd vith some sheep, executed so exactly in the style of those
introduced in two or three of the cuts of the book of Canticles, as

CHAP. III.] SPBCULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 159

to leave little or no doubt that they were engraved by the same
hand.

6. The Garden and tie Fountain^ Balaam and his A$s.
emblematic qf the Hofy Virgin.

Ortus conclusus fons signatus. Balaam prenondavit ortnm marie

in Stella.

Cap. IV.

7. The Nativity of the Virgin. The Qeneahgieal Tree of Christ.
Nativitas gloriose virginis Marie. Egredietur virga de radicd Yesse.

Upon the upper part of the genealogical tree^ in the right hand
compartment, the Madonna is represented seated, with the Infant
Saviour in her lap ; the group, although extremely small, is executed
with much taste and delicacy.

8. The Gate qf a City, closed. The Tenq^le ofSohnum.

another Emblem qf the Virgin

Mary.

Clausa porta significat beatam vir- Templmn Salmnonis significat

\ ginem mariam. beatam mariam.

Cap. V.

f). The Offering of the Virgin in The Offering of the Table of Gold

the Temple. in the Temple of the Sun.

Maria (oblata) est domino in Mensa aurea oblata est in temple

templo. solifi.

10. Jephtha sacrificing his Da/ugh- The Queen Semiramis on the Top
ter injidfilment of his Vow to the of a T(fwer.

Lord.

Jepte obtulit filiam suam dMuno. ]Regina peKsaram contemplabaiiir

patriam aoam in orto susp^isili.

The composition of Jephtha sacrificing his daughter is one of the

leo SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS, [chap, hi.

most spirited of the aeries, and is here copied. The female figure
possesses considerable beauty and ^:pression.

Cap. VI.
lU The Marriage of the Virgin. The Marriage of Sarah and Tobit.
Hie rirgo maria desponsata Joseph. Hie Zara desponsatur Thobie ja-

niori.

The author of these designs seldom foiled in his representations of
the. female character. The figure of. Sarah, in the compartment to
the right, possesses a virgin modesty and an easy gracefulness of
deportment which are particularly captivating.

12. A Tower, upon which are TVo A City, to the WeMs of which are

Men blowing T^nanpets. attached many Shields.

Hec turris dicta bans significat Hec turns david de qua pendebant

raariajD. mille clypei.

^ •

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 161

Cap. VII.

13. The Anmrnctatian. Moses and the Burning Bush.

Hicannunciaturihesusperangelum Dominus apparvit moysi in rubo
virgini marie. ardenti.

14. Cridean and the Fleece. Rehekah giving Drink to the Ser*

vant of Abraham.

Vellus gedeonis repletum etiam Rebecca nuncio abrahe potum tri-
terra sicca manente. buebat.

Cap. VIII.

15. The Nativity of our Saviour. Hue Cujhbearer of Pharaoh sees the

Vineyard in a Vision.

Natiyitas domini nostri ihesu christi. Pincema pharaonis yidit in sompnis

yineam.

16. Aaron^s Rod. The Sybil shewing to Augustus the

Image of the Virgin.

Virga aaron floruit contra naturam Sybilla vidit virginem cum puero.
virtute divina.

Cap. IX.

17. TAe Adoration of the Magi. The Three Magi seeing the Star.

Tres magi adorant puerum cum Tres magi viderunt novam stellam

muneribus. in oriente.

One of the Magi, in the compartment on the right, instead of
being on horseback, like the others, is seated upon a chimerical
animal, with a long arched neck, and a head like a leopard. He
seems to be explaining the purport of the celestial appearance to
the two kings, his companions.

18. The Three Warriors bringing Solomon seated on his Throne,

the Water of the Cistern to David.

Tres fortes attulerunt david regi Thronus salomonis.

aquam de cistema.

182 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

Cap. X.

19. The Presentation in the Temple, The Ark of the Old Testament.
Maria obtulit filium suum in templo. Archa testamenti significat mariam.

20. The Candkstiek in the Tempk The It^ant Samuel devoted to the

of SMomon. Lord.

Candelabrum templi Salomonis. Puer Skunuel oblatus est domino.

Cap. XL

21. TAtf Flight of the Holy Famihf The Egyptians adoring the Image
into Egypt J and the Destruction of of the Holy Virgin.

the Idols.

Omnia ydola corruerunt intrante Egiptii fecerunt imaginem vii^nis
ihesu in Upturn. cum puero.

The group in the left hand compartment is composed with great
simplicity of style, and furnishes additional evidence in support of
the opinion given at page 155; that the same artist who had en-
graved the " Bihlia Pauperum" and '* the Book of Canticles/' was
also employed to execute the work before us : the head of Joseph,
and the general character of his figure, in this design of " the Flight
into Egypt," bear so striking a resemblance to the Joseph in
the Nativity" in the " Biblia Pauperum," copied at page 116,
(although the attitude is different) as to amount to little short
of proof that both were executed by the same wood-engraver.

22. The young Moses breaking in Nebuchadnezzar seeing the Vision
Pieces the Crown of Pharaoh. of the Statue.

Moyses projecit coronam Phara- Nabugodnasur vidit statuam in
cms et fr^t. sompno.

€€
U

CHAP, III.] SPECULUM HUMANA£ SALVATIONIS.

163

Cap. XII.

23. The Baptism of Christ.

Jhesus baptisatus est a johanne in

jordano.

24. Ncuiman cured of his Leprosy.

Naaman leprosus (lavit) septies et
mundatus est.

The Vessel of Brass in which the

Jews washed themselves upon enters

ing into the (Temple.

Mare eneam in quo ingressuri in
templum lavebantur.

The Ark carried over the River

Jordan.

Jordanus siccatus est in transitu

filiorum dei.

Cap. XIII.

25. The Temptation of Christ

Cristus triplicitur fuit temptatus a

dyabolo.

26. David kitting Goliath.
David superavit goliam philisteum.

Daniel destroying the Image ofBel^
and killing the Dragon.

Daniel destruxit bel, et interfecit

draconem.

David killing the Bear and the

Lion.

David interfecit ursam et leoneuL

Cap. XIV.

27. Mary Magdalen at the Feet of The King Manasses in Captivity.

Christ.

Magdalena penituit in domo sy- Manasses c^t pemtentiam in cap-

monis. tivitate.

28. The Return of the Prodigal Nathan reproaching David with

Son. his Sins.

Pater familias filium prodigum David de adulterio redargutus

suscepit. penituit.

The calm but austere dignity of a monitor sent from God is finely

Y 2

164 SPECULUM ttUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

portrayed in the figure of Nathan, in the right hand compartment.
The figure of David is very inferior, although not without expression.

Cap. XV.

29. Christs Entry into Jerusalem. Jeremiah upon a Tower ^ lamenting

the Fate of Jerusalem.

Cristus flevit super civitatem jhe- Jer^nias lamentabatur super jhe-

rusalem. rusalem.

30. The Triumph of David. Heliodorus beaten with Rods.

David susceptus est cum laudibus. Helyodorus fiagellabatur.

Cap. XVI.

31. The Last Supper. The Israelites gathering Manna in

the Wilderness.

Cristus manducat pascha cum dis- Manna datur filiis israel in deserto.

cipulis suis.

Christ and the twelve apostles, in the compartment to the lefi:,
are seated on stools around a circular table. Judas is distinguished
from the rest by having no diadem or glory round his head.
The artist has committed a lamentable error of perspective — ^the
nearest figures in the piece being represented of the smallest
dimensions.

32. The Jews eating the Paschal Melchisedec meeting Abraham.

Lamb.

Judei manducaverunt agnum pas- MelchisedechobtulitAbrahepanem

chalem. et vinum.

Cap. XVII.

33. The Soldiers, sent to take Christ Sampson killing a Thousand Phi-
in the Garden^ struck to the Ground listines with the Jawbone of an

at his Word. Ass.

Cristus prostravit hostes sues unico Sampson prostravit mille cum man-

verbo. dibla azini.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 105

34. Samger hilUng Six Hundred David slaying Eight Hundred
Men with a Ploughshare. Men with his Sward.

Sanger occidit sexcentos viros cum David occidit octingentos yiros cum

vomere. petu suo.

These two compartments, as well as that of Sampson in the last
leaf, exhibit many interesting specimens of ancient armour, in a
style very much resembling those noticed in one of the prints of
'' the Book of Canticles.'*

Cap. XVIII.

35. Christ betrayed with a Kiss. Joab killing Ahner.

Cristus dolose traditus. Joab interfecit firatrem suum

amasam.

36. Damd playing an the Harp he- The Sacrifice and Death of Abel.

fore Savl.

Rex Saul reddidit david malum Cayn dolose interfecit firatrem suum

pro bono. Abel.

Cap. XIX.

37. Christ insulted by the Soldiers Hur insulted and spit upon by the

of the High-Priest. Jews

Cristus iuit velatus, consputus et Hur vir marie suffocatus sputo

colaphisatus. Judeorum.

38. Ham mocking his Father Noah. The Philistines mocking Sampson

when BUnd.

Cam derisit patrem suum noem et Philistei Sampsonem exceccantes
alii eum condolebant. deriserunt

The fignre of Noah, in the left-hand compartment, although in
the meagre style of the time, is designed with great spirit ; espe-
cially in the head and hands, which evince, in every touch, the
intelligence of a consunmiate artist.

toa SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

Cap. XX.

39. The Flagellation of Christ. The Prince Achior tied to a Tree.

Jbesus ad columpnam ligatus est et Achior princeps ligatus est ad ar-

flagellatus. borem a serris holofemis.

40. iMmeeh torweiUed bjf hit Two Job tormsnted jy the Deaum and

Wives. hy his Wife.

Lameth amfligitur a malis snis Job flagellabatur a demone et ab
uxoribus. uxore.

I have caused the design of Lamech and his wives to be copied,
and doubt.not that the reader will appreciate its merits. The other
compartment is, upon the whole, less agreeable, though the wife of
Job is by no means an inelegant figure.

CHAP. Ill J SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. ffll

Cap. XXI.

41. Christ crowned with Thorns. A Concubine taking the Crown

from the Head cf a King and put-
ting it on her own.

Cristus coronatur 49piiiea corona. Concubina ipsius coronam regiB

acceptam sibi ipsi imposuit

The ignominious bondage of the monarch in the right hand com-
partment, is well expressed ; and the figure of the female is far
from ungraceful.

42. Schimei insulting David. The King Arnmon disfiguring the

Messengers of David.

Simey maledicit David. Rex amon dehonestavit nuncios

david.

> •

Cap. XXII.

43. Christ bearing the Cross. Abraham about to sacrifice Isaac.

Cristus baiulavit crucem suam. Ysaac ligna portat pro sua imrno^

latione.

44. The Son of the Lord of the The Two Spies carrying the Bunch
Vin^ard murdered by his Servants. of Grapes.

Exploratores uvam in vecte portant Heres yinee projectus est extra

vineam et interfectus est.

These two inscriptions, as Heineken observes, are misplaced:
that on the right belongs to the subject on the left hand.

Cap. XXIII.

45. Christ nailed to the Cross. ^ Tubal-Cain superintending his

Workmen^ who are forging Iron.

Xpuscrucifixus mortem suam JSguris Inventores artis ferrarie et melo-

predixit. diarum.

The author, says Heineken, intended to indicate by this type

108 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi,

that Tubal-Cain invented the nails by which Christ was fastened
to the Cross.

46. Isaiah suspended and sawed in A King kitting his Child.

Two.

Ysaias propheta dividitur serra Rex moab immolarit filinm super

lignea. murum.

The naked figure of Isaiah, although in the meagre style of the
time, is drawn with intelligence and spirit

Cap. XXIV.

47. Christ an the Cross between the The Dream of Nebuchadnezzar of

Two Thieves. the Tree cut down.

Cristas pendens in cruce. Nabugodnosor in sompnio vidit

arborem.

The three naked figures of Christ and the two malefactors are also
designed with great feeling and spirit

48. The King Codrus causing him- Eleazar kitting the Elephant by
sdf to be put to death/or the good plunging his Sword into its Bettjf.

of his Country.

Rex codrus dedit se ipsum in exi- Eleasar confodens elephantem ab
cium pro suis. ipso oppressus est.

Thus far, according to Heineken, the chapters are conformable to
the ancient Latin manuscripts.

49. The Descent from the Cross. . JosepKs Coat brought to Jacob.

Dolor marie de filio^ Jacob deflet filium suum Joseph.

I have already observed that the latter cuts of this series are cer*
tainly engraved by a different artist from the one who executed the
preceding ; and that the designs also appear to be of another hand.
The truth of this remark will be sufficiently annarent to the reader

€HAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. lea

in the subjoined copy of the Descent from the Cross. He will
observe, that in its style of design, as well as of execution, it differs
very materially from those before copied. The tree, for example,
on the right, is round and clumpy ; 'and the hatchings, with which
the figures are shaded, are ranged diagonally ; whereas, in the pre-
ceding cuts, the figures are almost uniformly shaded by horizontal
hatchings ; and the trees, as may be seen in the cut copied at page
158, are of a conic form, with sharply pointed tops, like those of
" the Book of Canticles." It is moreover proper to notice that,
beginning with this page, the printed work, which, as Heineken
observes, is so far conformable to the ancient Latin mfmuscripts,- no
longer continues to be so. I shall leave it to the research of future
writers to account for this remarkable circumstance.

170

SPiECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

60* Adam and Eve lamenting aver
the dead Body of Abel.

Frothoplausti luxerunt necem abeL

51. The Burial of Christ.
Hora completorii datur sepulture.

52. Joseph put into the WeU.
Joseph missus in cistemam.

53. Chrisfs Descent into Limbo.

Sancti patres liberantur de inferno.

54. Ood commanding Abraham to

leave the Land of Ur.

Liberatio Abraham de yr calde-

orum.

55. 2%e Resurrection of our So-

viour.

Resurrectio domini nostri Ihesu

Cristi.

Naomi weeping the Death of her

Sons.

Noemy flet mortem filiorum.

The Burial of Abner.
David fleyit super exequias abner.

Jonas swallowed by the Whale.
Jonas a cete devoratus.

Moses leading the Children of Is-
rael out of Egypt.

Israhel liberatur a Pharaone.

Lot and his Family quitting Sodom.

Liberatio loth a sodomis.

Sampson carrying off' the Gates of
the City of Gaza.

Sampson tulit portas gaze.

56. Jonahs vomited up by the Whale.
Exitus ione de ventre ceti. .

57. The Last Judgment.

Extremum judicium.

Stone-Masons at Work.

Lapis reprobatus iactus est in lapir

dem anguli.

7%6 Parahle of the Lordy taking
an account of the Debts owing to
him by his Servants^ and causing
the wicked Servant to be cast into a

Dungeon.

Nobilis reversus ex longinquis fecit

rationem.

CHAP. Ill] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 171

68. The Parable of the Wise and Daniel explaining the Htmdrwriting

the Foolish Virgins. on the WaU.

R^num celorum simile decern rir- Manua domini scripsit in paiiete.
ginibus.

The cut representing the parable of the wise and foolish virgins
is so beautifully composed, that I am sure the reader will be gratified
by its introduction in this place. It would be difficult to point out
any design of that subject^ of later times, in which the story, to use
a technical phrase, is better told, or in which the figures are more
gracefully disposed.

172

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. in.

The Speculum Humanae Salvationis, as is well known, is
ascribed, upon the authority of Hadrian Junius, a Dutch writer of
the sixteenth century, to the pr^s of Lamtrence Costeb, of Harlem^
(or, as he styles him, " Laurentius Joannis, cognomento iEniTUUS
Custosve,*') who, he assures us, was the true inventor of typography ;
notwithstanding that a contrary opinion in favor of the pretensions
of the printers of Mentz had long gone abroad, and was become so
deeply rooted in the minds of men, as to render its removal a task
of extreme difficulty.

The account of Junius, which is given at length in the note
below,* is in substance as follows :

* ^* Habitavit ante annos centum duode-
triginta Harlemi in aedibus satis spleodidis
(ut documento esse potest fabrica quae in
hunc usque diem perstat Integra) foro immi-
nentibus e regione Palatii RegaliS| Laurentius
Joannes cognomento Aedituus Custosvei
(quod tunc opimum et honorificum raunus
familiaeo nomine clarabaereditariojure pos-
sidebat) is ipse qui nunc laudem inventae
artis Typographicae recidivam justis vindiciis
ac sacramentis repetit, ab aiiis nefarie pos-
sessam et occupatam^ summo jure omnium
triumpborum laurea majore donandus. Is
forte in suburbano nemore spatiatus (ut solent
sumpto cibo aut festis diebus cives qui otio
abundant) coepit faginos cortices principio
in literarum typos conformare, quibus inversa
ratione sigillatim cbartae impressis versiculum
unum atque alterum animi grating ducebat,
nepotibus genert sui liberis exemplum fu-
turum. Quod ubi feliciter successerat,
coepit animo alUora (ut erat ingenio nis^o
et subacto) agitare, primumque omnium
atramenti scriptorii genus glutinosius tena-
ciusque, quod vulgare lituras trahere expe-
riretur, cum genero suo Thoma Petro^ qui
quatemos liberos reliquit, omnes ferme con-

sulari dignitate functos (quod eo dico ut artem
in familia honesta et ingenua, baud servili,
natara intelligant omnes) excogitavit, inde
etiam pinaces totas figuratas additis charac-
teribus expressit : quo in genere vidi ab ipso
excusa adversaria, operarum rudimentum pa-
ginis solum adversis, baud opistographis : is
liber erat vemaculo sermone ab auctore con-
scriptus anonymo, titulum praeferens, Spe^
culum Noitrae Salutis : in quibus id observa-
tum fuerat inter prima artis incunabula (ut
nunquam uUa simul et reperta et absoluta
est) uti paginae aversae glutine commissae
cohaerescerenty ne illae ipsae vacuae defor-
mitatem adferrent. Postea faginas formas
plumbeis mutavit, bas deinceps stanneas
fecit, quo solidtor minusque flexilis esset
materia, durabiliorque : e quorum typorum
reliquiis quae superfuerant conflata oenophora
vetustiora adhuc hodie visuntur in Lauren-
tianis illis, quas dixi, aedibus io forum pros-
pectantibus, habitatis postea a suo pronepote
Gerardo Thoma, quem honoris caussa no-
mino, cive claro, ante paucos bos annos vita
defuncto sene. Faventibus, ut fit, invento
novo studiis hominum, qunni nova merx,
nunquam antea visa, emptores undique ex-

jcHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

173

He relates that, '' about an hundred and twenty-eight years
''' before he wrote, this Lawrence Coster resided in a large house,
^' situated opposite the royal palace at Harlem, which was still
standing. That Coster, during his afternoon walks in the vici-
nity of the city, began by amusing himself with cutting letters
** out of the bark of the beech-tree ; and with these, one after
*^ another, the letters being inverted, he printed small sentences for
** the instruction of his grand-children. That being a man of

€t

ciret cam huberrimo quaestUy crevit siinal
artis amor, crevit minuterium, additi fami-
liae operarum ministri, prima mali labes,
qaos inter Joannes quidamy sive is (ot fert
*saspicio) Faustus fuerit ominoso cognomioe,
hero suo infidus et infanstus, sive alius eo
nomine, non maguopere laboro, quod si-
lentum umbras inquietare nolim, contagione
conscienbae quondam dum viverent tactas.
Is ad operas ezcusorias Sacramento dictus,
postquam artem jungendorum characterum,
fiisilium typorum peritiam, quaeque alia earn
lul rem spectant, percalluisse sibi visus est,
eaptato opportuno tempore, quo non potuit
magis idoneum inveniri, ipsa nocte quae
Christ! natalitiis solennis est, qua cuncti pro-
miscue lustralibus sacris operari solent, cho-
ragium omne typorum involat, instrumentorum
herilium ei artificio comparatorum supellecU-
lem convasat, deinde cum fure domo se pro-
ripit, Amstelodamum principio adit, inde
Coloniam Agrippinam, donee Magontiacum
perventum est, ceu ad asyli aram, ubi quasi
^xtra telorum jactum (quod dicitur) positus
tuto degeret, suorumque furtorum aperta
oflkina fructum huberem meteret. Nimirum
ex ea, intra vertentis anni spacium, ad annum
a nato Christo 1442. iis ipsis typis, quibus
Harlemi Laurentius fuerat usus, prodisse in
lucem certum est Alexandri Galli Doctrinale,
quiie CmmQiatica celeberrimo tunc in oso

erat, cum Petri Hispani tractatibuSj prima
foetura. Ista sunt ferme quae a senibus an-
nosis fide dignis, et qui tradita de manu in
manum quasi ardentem taedam in decorsu
acceperant, olim intellexi, et alios eadem
referentes attestantesque comperi. Memiiu
narrasse mihi Nicolaum Galium, pueritiae
meae formatorem, hominem ferrea memoria
et longa canitie renerabilem, quod puer non
semel audierit G}melium quendam biblio-
pegum ac senio gravem, nee octogenario
minorem (qui in eadem oflSdna subministrum
egerat) tanta animi contentione ac fervore
commemorantem rei gestae seriem, inventi
(ut ab hero acceperat) rationem, rudis artis
polituram et incrementum aliaque id genus,
ut invito quoque prae rei indignitate lachiy-
mae erumperent, quoties de plagio inciderat
mentio : tum vero ob ereptam furto gloriam
sic ira exardescere solere senem, ut etiam
lictoris exemplum eum fuisse editurum in
plagiarium appareret, si vita illi superfuisset :
tum devovere consuevisse diris ultricibus sa-
crilegum caput, noctesque iilas damnare
atque execrari, quas una cum scelere illo,
communi in cubili per aliquot menses exe-
gisset. Quae non dissonant k verbis Quirini
Talesii Cos. eadem fere ex ore librarii ejus-
dem se olim accepisse mihi confessi,'' Sec*
8cc. Meerman Documenta, No. £.

174 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. iir.

it
€4

genius and research, and finding the ink then commonly used apt
to spread, he afterwards discovered, with the assistance of his
*' son-in-law, Thomas the son of Peter (who, he tells us, left four
^' children, most of whom, afterwards, enjoyed high offices in the
" state) a more glutinous kind of ink, with which he succeeded in
** printing entire pages with cuts and characters. That he, Juniuij,
" had seen specimens of this kind, printed on one side of the paper
" only, in a book entitled ' Speculum Nostras Salutis,' written by an
" anonymous writer in the Dutch language ; the blank pages being
" pasted together that the leaves might turn over, like those of an
y ordinary book, without shewing the vacancies. That, afterwards,
'* Coster made his letters of lead instead of wood ; and lastly of
pewter, finding that metal harder, and consequently, more proper
for the purpose ; and that various drinking cups, made of the
'^ remains of this old type, were still preserved in the aforesaid
" house, where, but a few years before. Coster's great nephew, or great
" grandson, Gerard Thomas, had died at an advanced age. That
** the invention in question, soon meeting with encouragement, it
'* became necessary to augment the number of hands employed ;
*' which circumstance proved the first cause of disaster to the new
** establishment ; for that one of the workmen, named John (whom
" Junius seems to suspect might have been Fust — ^for he does not
** absolutely accuse him), as soon as he had made himself sufficient
" master of the art of casting the type, and joining the characters
(notwithstanding he had given an oath of secrecy), took the earliest
opportunity of robbing his master of the implements of his art ;
" choosing, for the completion of his purpose, the night preceding the
" feast of the Nativity, when the whole family, with the rest of the
inhabitants of the city, were at church, hearing midnight mass%
That he escaped with his booty to Amsterdam, thence to Cologn,
and, lastly, that he took up his residence at Mentz, where he esta-
blished his printing press ; from which, within the following year,
** 1442, were issued two works, printed with the characters which
" had been before used by Lawrence Coster, at Harlem ; the one

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44

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 175

4€

4i
4€
€4
44

^' entitled ' Alexandri Galli Doctrinale/ the other^ ' Petri Hispani
« ' Tractatus/ ''

This account, Junius assures us, he had from several old gentle-
men who had filled the most honorable offices of the city, and
who, themselves, had received it from others of equal respectability
and credit, as a well founded tradition ; '^ as a lighted torch,'' says
he, '' passes from one hand to another without being extinguished.**
He adds, '^ that he well remembers that Nicholas Galius, the tuto;
of his youth, who was an old gentleman of very tenacious me-
mory, used to relate that, when he was a boy, he had often
** heard one Cornelius, then an old man upwards of eighty years
of age, who had been a bookbinder, and, in his youth, had
assisted in the printing office of Coster, describe, with great
earnestness, the various trials and experiments made by his
master in the infancy of the invention : upon which occasions
** he would even shed tears, especially when he came to the story
of the robbery committed by one of the workmen, which he
related with great vehemence; cursing those nights in which, as
he said, for some months, he had slept in the same bed with so
vile a miscreant ; and protesting that he could, with the utmost
pleasure, execute the thief with his own hands, if he had been
*' still alive :*' ** which relation,*' as Junius tells us, " corresponded
^^ with the account which Quirinus Talesius, the Burgomaster,
'' confessed to him he had heard from the mouth of the same old
** bookbinder."

The reader is no doubt aware, that it is very principally upon
this testimony that the writers of Holland found, what they con-
sider the undoubted pretensions of Harlem to the invention of
printing : I say principally, because, whatever pains the writers of
the adverse party may take to persuade us of the contrary, the pre-
tensions of Harlem, and still less those of Holland generally, do not
rest upon this evidence alone.

It must, indeed, be admitted, that Junius is the earliest writer
at present known, who makes express mention of Lawrence Costep,

44
44
44
44
44

17« SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, uu

or Laurent Jansszoon, as the inventor of Typography ; but he is
far from being the first who asserted that that art was invented at
Harlem.

Hadrian Junius was born at Hom^ in 151 U and took up his abode
at Harlem> in the year 1560: he commenced his work entitled
'* Batavia,'* towards the latter part of his life, completed it in
January 9 1575, and died on the 16th of June in the same year.
His book was first printed in 1588. The passage relative to Coster
is supposed, from its context, to have been written in 1568.

Now we learn from Scriverius, that a treatise expressly upon the
subject in question, was written at Harlem, between the years 1549
and 1561, by John Van Zuyren,* who was sometime Scabinus or
Sheriff, and afterwards Burgomaster of that city. Of the body of
this work, which was composed in Latin, in the form of a dia-
logue, Scriverius feelingly regrets the loss ; assuring us that, had it
been preserved, it would have been unnecessary for him to have
had recourse to the testimonies of Junius and others ; and that
Harlem, to the confusion of envy, would have then enjoyed the
undisputed title to the invention of Typography. Scriverius has
preserved the Latin title of this book, and some fragments of its
dedicatory preface. The name of Coster does not appear. In one
part, after admitting that the honour of having perfected the art of
printing, and of having made it known throughout Europe, is justly
due to Mentz, the author says, " Caeterum hoc teneat velim Ampli-
" tudo tua N. N. in hac urbe nostra Harlemensi prima esse jacta
^^ opificcii hujus preeclari fundamental rudia fortasse, sed tamen

* Scriverius says ! '^ a Joanne Zureoo diu 1561, when he was advanced to the dig-
ante torbas belgicas compositus, cum ipse nity of Burgomaster. He died, aged seventy^
Scabinus Harlemi conservandis legibus dig- four, in the y^r 1591. Scriverius's book
nissime prseesset, atque nondum consulatum was first printed at Harlem, in the Dutch
suscepisset ;'' and we learn from Meerman, language, in 1628. It is given in a Latin
torn. i. p. 63. that Van Zuyren filled the translation in Wolfius's Collection,
office of Scabinus from the year 1549 to

CHAP. Ill:] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 177

44
44

prima. Hie nata et in lucem edita est Typographia (quod Mo-

guntinensium paee dietum velim) suisque membris formata, ut
*' succreseere posset ; ac diu certe, ut nuper nati infantes solent^

traetata figurataque sedulo, multosque hie annos intra privates

tantum parietes stetit^ qui sunt mode,* quamquam ruinosi, tamen
*' adhue salvi et ineolumes, tanto pridem partu suo orbati ac spo«
^* liati misere/' &c.

The whole of the fragments preserved of Zuyrenus's preface are
extremely interesting. The author, says Scriverius, asserts as
follows :

Artem typographicam Harlemi primam esse inventam.
0£5icinam primam typographicam temporibus ipsius auctoris^

quum haec scriberet, incolumem*f adhuc fuisse, cum illis quas

ad eam pertinebant.
Artem banc novam atque tum adhuc rudem k peregrino quodam
*' subductamt

Hinc M oguntiam perlatam,

Ibi vero exceptam, nutritam," &c.

Next in the order of time to the testimony of Van Zuyren, may
be mentioned that of Theod. Volchart Coornhert, prefixed to that
writer's translation of Cicero's Offices, in the dedication of the work
to the Burgomasters, Judges, and Senators of Harlem, where the
book was printed. in 1561.

Coornhert, like Junius, assures us that he wrote upon the autho-
rity of '* aged persons of the highest respectability and credit, who
'^ had repeatedly informed him, not only of the family of the in-
'^ ventor, and of his name and surname, but also concerning the
'^ rude manner of printing which he at first practised, and the place
** of his residence, which they had oflen pointed out to him with

^ *^ Prospectantes in forum et curiam; f *^ Uti adhuc hodie, quamquam mutata

'^ nunc in duas tresve domus partiti ac divisi. *^ et diminuta, ut videre est in loco, qui

^ Ipsum typographeion antiquum ad ClartBs. '^ dicitur Marckotld!^ Note of Scrivef*

^ J. C. Dobbium pertinet, habitatum i rius, ""

'* bibliopego." Note of Scriveriut* . ....

2 A

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44

178

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

^* their fingers/'* It may be fairly contended, in support of this
account, that if the better informed classes of the people of Harlem,
at the time, had been convinced that there was no good foundation
for the tradition, and that it was no other than an old woman's
tale, the writer would scarcely have thought of addressing it to the
dignatories of the city, to whom it could not have been very grati-*
fying to be selected as the fit persons to listen to a ftible which no
one else beUeved.

* The words of Coornhert, as translated
b; Meennao, (Documenta, No. 82) are as
follow : ^* Viri spectaUssimi prudeotissimique,
^' saepe mihi bona fide narratum est, utilissi-
*' mam artem tjrpographicam in hac nrbe
** Harlemensi, etsi modo perquam rudi, in-
" ventam esse ; emendare enim inventa et ad
<< majorem perfectionis gradum perducere
** fodlius est, quam nova invenire. Postea
^' banc artem servus quidam perfidus/' (the
name of Coster is here introduced by Sen-
Terius, but without authority ) '^ Moguntiam
** transtulity ibique illam perfectiorem reddidit,
** et huic simul urbi inventionem hujus artb,
*' simulatque fcma ejus rei divulgata esset,
** conciliavity adeo ut cives nostri, quando
** hunc honorem yero inventori adscribunti
'< vix apud quemquam fidem inveniant, cum
** tamen res ipsa a maltis in nostra urbe
'^ propter notitiam certissimam omnino ere-
** datur, et a civibus yeteranis cunctis extra
'^ omnem dubitationis aleam ponatur. Neque
** me fugit, funam illam de Moguntia ob
'' majorum nostrorum incuriam temerariam
^< omnium mentibus tam altu infizam esse
^* radidbus, ut nullum argumentum, quamvis
<< endentissimum> certissimum et invictissi-
^' mum fiierit, inveteratam illam opinionem
« ex illorum animis evellere queat Sed
^ quoniam Veritas, etiamsi paucis nota nt,
*^ Veritas tamen manet, idcirco ego quoque

^' rem modo narratam certissimam esse credo,
** convlctus testimoniis fide dignissimis vi-
'' rorum senio et auctoritate gravium, qui
*' non solum de familia mventoris Har-
'' lemensb, sed etiam de ejus nomine et cog*
'^ nomine me saepe certiorem reddiderunt ;
'' imo primum impressionis modum rudiorem
'' descripserunt, et primi typograpbi aedes
'^ indice digito olim monstrarunt. Itaque,
^' non invidia honoris alieni, sed amore veri-
'^ tatis inductus, intermittere non potui, quin
'' banc rem ad gloriam promeritam urbi nos-
'' trse vindicandam paucis attingerem. Haec
'^honesta et justa honoris cupido videtur
'' etiam in causa f uisse, cur typognqphia in
'^ hac urbe ad instar surculi e nuUcibus ar«
'' boris vetustae denuo effloruerit atque incepta
** fuerit. Etenim saepe contigit, ut cives
^ nostri in coi^essum coUoquiumque mu^
'^ tnum venientes, quererentur, alios hoc
*< honore immerito firui, atque adhuc a nemine
** post illud tempus (uc illi ne uUo quidem
'' contradicente loquebantur) banc artem in
'' nostra urbe exercitam esse. His quoti-
^' diams dictb efiectum est id, ut ego sodique
''mei, qui honestum laborem otio prae-
'' ferlmt, consilium de tjpofgnfim Harlemi
'' constituenda in hujus urbis honorem, alio-
ff rum emolumentum nostruqiique commodum
*^ absque ullius hominis damno promovendum
** eeperimus.^

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. I7d

Hitherto, however, it may be said, that our testimonies were
Dutchmen. — ^True — ^but they were not, if we except Van Zuyren,
natives of Harlem. Besides, they all agree in lamenting that their
country had so long delayed publicly to establish its claims to that
honour which was really its due ; and the particulars of the oral
traditions, preserved by the people of Harlem, could with difficulty
be collected, except by one resident in that city; although the
opinion that typography was there invented, was common through^
out Holland.

This we learn from Ludovico Guicciardini, who, as he was an
Italian, may be considered impartial as to the matter in dispute,
and who thus noticed the pretensions of Harlem in his work, entitled
^ Descrizione di tutti i Paesi Bassi,'' written, as it is said, in the
year 1565, and printed at Antwerp, in 1567. Speaking of Harlem
(p. 180) he says :

^' According to the common tradition of the inhabitants, and the
^^ assertion of other natives of Holland, as well as the testimony
^^ of certain authors and other records, it appears that the art of
^ printing and stamping letters and characters on paper, in the
'* manner now used, was first invented in this place: but the
^ author of the invention happening to die before the art was
^ brought to perfection, and had acquired repute, his servant, they
say, went to reside at M entz ; where, giving proofs of his know-
ledge in that science, he was joyfully received; and where,
having applied himself to the business with unremitting diligence,
^ it became at length generally known, and was brought to entire
** perfection : in consequence of which, the fame afterwards spread
abroad and became general," (e inveterata lafama) 'Hhat the
art and science of printing originated in that city. What is really
the truth, I am not able, nor will I take upon me to decide ; it
sufficing me to have said these few words, that I might not be
guilty of injustice towards this town and this country.*'*

• '< In qaesta terra, non solo per voce ** landesi, ma ancora per alcuni scrittori, e
^ pttblica d^ abitalori, e di altri Hoi- ** per altre memorie, si troya, che fa prima-

2 A 2

€€
U

leo

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. ui.

The reader will observe that Guicciardini bears witness that, at
the time he wrote, the pretensions of Harlem did not rest merely
upon the authority of oral tradition — ^he refers, although, unfor-
tunately, without specifying them, to the testimony of certain
zpriters on the subject, and to other records then in existence. Like
a cautious man, fearful of repeating an accusation, the truth of
which he could not, or did not choose to be at the pains to ascer-
tain, he softens the story of the robbery ; but the deficiency of his.
testimony in this respect is amply made amends for, by the circum-
stance, which he alone records, that the workman of Coster did
not go to Mentz until after his master's death.

The reader, little versed in the mode in which typographical con-
troversy has of late been treated, will be, perhaps, not less sur-*
prized than I was, at the boldness of a recent French writer of
some note, who, in the face of these and other documents, thus
begins his examination of the claims of Harlem :
" A century had passed by, firom the period of the invention of
printing,*' says Lambinet,* " when the inhabitants of Holland
began to think of asserting their claims to the honour of the dis-
covery. Adrian Junius first gave them the idea. That writer,
towards the end x>f his life, undertook to compose a description
*' of Holland, under the title of " Adriani Junii Batavia," which he
" dedicated to the States-General, the 4th of January, 1575. His
'* death, which happened on the I6th of June in the same year.

t€

i€.

** mente inventata Tarte dello imprimere, e
'' stampare lettere, e caratteri in foglio al
^' modo d'oggi:.impero venendo Tautore a
'' morte inoanzi, che Tarte fosse in perfe-
^' zione, e coosiderazione, il servidore suo
*^ secondo dicono, ando a dimprare a Ma-
** ggnza, ove dando lame di quella scienza,
<' fu raccolto allegramente, e quivi dato opera
** con ogni diligeozia a tanto negozio, ne
^ vennero all' intera notizia, e total per-

** fezione ; onde ^ poi volata, e inveterata la
'^ foma, che di quella citta sia uscita I'arte e
'^ la scienza della stamps Quel che ne sia
^* alia verita, non posso, ne yoglio giudicare,'
** bastandomi d' aveme tocco un motto, per
** non progiudicare a questa terra e rq^one.**.
(Meerman — Documenta, No. 84).

* Origine de Tlmprimerie, torn. i. p. £69,
et seq.

€{
U

chap: 111.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS, 181

" when he was sixty-three years of age, put an end to his enter-
" prize. It was continued after his decease, and was not printed
" until the year 1588. It is, therefore, a posthumous work, which
one or several continuators may have varied, interpolated, or
augmented, according to their fancy/'
The French writer then proceeds to give us what he, no doubt,
considered a very fair, and, at the same time, a very spirited'
examination, (or, as he calls it. Analysis) of Junius's account ; after
which he sarcastically tells us, that '* Foumier the younger, Koehler,
^^ Schoepflin, Fischer, and a great many other writers, have amused
" themselves by refuting the statement of Junius seriously. Naude,"
says he, p. 121, '' asks Junius and his partizans, how John Fust^
** or any other John, could have carried on his back the presses,
" the type, the cases, the tables of stone, &c. ? But this story of
the robbery," continues Lambinet, " is very aukwardly intro-
duced in the romance of Junius ; since, if we suppose Fust to
** have been Coster's workman, he must have been, of consequence,
'^ instructed in the mechanism of the art, aiid it must have been
very unnecessary and very inconvenient for him to have carried
off his apparatus."
It is certainly not necessary to the defence of Junius's credit as a
bona Jidt historian, and still less to the cause of Harlem generally,
that that writer's verbal correctness in every particular of his narra-
tive should be absolutely proved. Junius, however, does not say
that the robber carried off all the printing apparatus of his master
upon his shoulders, and that at one journey. The tables of stone,
and ' many other articles, he could easily provide elsewhere. The
press, if^ as is supposed, it was of a simple construction, he could
readily get made under his inspection when he arrived at the end
of his proposed journey: the type, and the matrices in which it
had been cast, with a few other instruments, were all that could
be moved without manifest danger of immediate detection, and
were all he could want ; and these, at two or three different times
in the course of the evening, the thief might easily have carried to

18S SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, ui^

a short distance beyond the gate of Harlem, where his accomplice
waited for him with a small cart or other means of conveyance.
More daring robberies are frequently cranmitted in open day ; and,
in truth, the objections so often made against this part of Junius's
account, are so frivolous as to be scarcely worth answering.

M. Lambinet proceeds to compliment the old gcaitlemen upon
whose authority Junius wrote his account ; facetiously styling them
'^ des si^cles parlans, et ambulans;'' and, lest his readers should
have forgotten his first assertion, repeats : *' Such is the evid^ioe
upon which Harlem grounds her pretensions !"

But it will be proper briefly to examine tbe French writer's sub-
i^equent argument; as it furnishes a good specimen of the mode
in which the question has been treated by most of those who
have declared on the side of Mentz. Lambinet approaches with
dignified steps, not doubting of an easy victory.

** When we are at a loss,*' says he, ** to ascertain the truth of
** facts, said to have taken place in former centuries, and in distant
** countries, what are the means by which we may obtain any
" moral certitude of their existence? — ^They are four: L The tes-
timony of eye-witnesses or of contemporaries ; 2. Oral tradition ;
3. Written history ; and 4, Existing monuments.
" Now," says Lambinet, " we have no testimony of any person
who saw Coster's printing-office, from the year 1430 to 1440:
and even supposing one person to have witnessed it,'' (meaning
Cornelius) '* his insulated testimony as to so complicated an inven*
*• tion would be worth nothing. It could not be entitled to beUef,
unless corroborated by several other eye-witnesses, who were
persons capable of understanding what they saw,*' (instruits) " of
" undoubted probity, and free from all prejudice."

If nothing short of such ample testimony will satisfy M. Lambinet,
it will not, I apprehend, be in the power of the partizans of Coster
or of Harlem to bring him over to their side : — ^but it may fairly be
asked of him, whether he is prepared to produce the testimony of
several eye-witnesses of ability, undoubted probity, and unpre-

4€

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATI0NI8. 183

judiced minds, in support of the part which he has taken ? — ^He
continues :

*' Oral tradition is a chain of testimonies given by persons who

have succeeded each other throughout the duration of centuries ;

beginning from the epoch when the fact 'took place. This tra-
** dition is neither faithful nor to be depended upon, except when
^' we can easily trace it to its source, by means of a series of inter-
*' mediate testimonies, until we arrive at those who were contem-^
^^ poraries of the fact ; for if this chain is broken, and interrupted
** by intervals, — in that case, as it does not hold together, it can
^* only lead us to falsehood : now Lawrence had no eye-witnesses
'^ of his invention, and therefore he cannot have oral tradition in
** his favor."

Unless the French writer takes it for granted that his readers
should join with him, in the first instance, in condemning the rela^
tion of Junius as absolutely a tissue of falsehoods invented by him-
self, or by those who he says continued his book after his death, he
cannot expect them to agree with him that Coster has not oral tra-
dition, even such as he has defined it, in his favor : for the son-in-
law of Coster, Thomas Peter, was an eye-witness of his invention,
and assisted him' in improving it; and Cornelius, the book-binder,
was also an eye-witness of it when a young man ; and, when grown
old, related to Nicholas Galius, that which he knew and had wit-
nessed ; and Galius, in his turn, related what Cornelius had told
him, to Jui^us. The chain of testimonies, even such as M. Lam-
binet insists upon, is therefore complete; and, as it is composed
of but few links, it is, on that account, according to Mr. Locke's
axiom, that in traditional testimony the fewer the removes, the
greater the force of the proof, so much the stronger.

Nor, notwithstanding the French writer's pleasantry in styling
these testimonies '* walking centuries," is there any thing extra-
vagant in the supposition of a fact having been thus preserved, and
handed down to posterity by three succeeding testimonies, even

184

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. in.

though it had taken place an hundred and forty years before It was,
at length, recorded by the last of them ?*

Junius, who was bom in 1511, we will suppose, wrote his account
of Coster in 1568, — He received this account when a young man.

* Vao Zuyren^ Coonihert,Guicciardiiii9 and
JiiniuSy all agree m speaking of the story of the
invention of printing at Harlem, as a fact of
public notoriety in that city, when they wrote;
and indeed Guicciardini states that it was
commonly believed throughout Holland — all
of them agree that one of the workmen of
the inventor carried the art to Mentz: and
although the last-mentioned writer abstains
from giving his sanction to the account of the
robbery, it is very clear that he had heard it.
— Now if we suppose this robbery to have
taken place, as Junius says it did, in the year
1440, it becomes more than probable that
even as late as 1568, when he wrote, per-
sons were still living, who in their youth
had heard the relation from those who lived
when the event took place, and were ac-
quainted with the circumstances attending it ;
and it is to be rq;retted that Junius, in addi-
tion to the respectable authorities of Galius
and Talesius, who had formerly reUted to
himself that which he recorded, did not,
when writing his book, search out such per-
sons, and insert their viva voce, or vnitten
declarations, in their own words.

I am now sitting on a cushion, the cover of
which was embroidered near a hundred and
twenty years ago, by some great aunts of my
mother, whose testimony as to the fact I here
give in her own words : — the reader wiU perceive
that if Mrs. O. should live and preserve her
intellects to the age of her aunt Mary, she may
then bear witness to what she often heard re-
lated by the principal herself, of circuni-

stances which took pUce a hundred and forty^^
four years before.

'' Brompton Raw, May 3% 1S14.

'' MY DEAR SON,

'^ In answer to your inquiries
'' about the cushion coveri in our possession^
'' worked by the daughiert of my great
^* grandfather, John Taylor, Esq. I can only
*^ with accuracy and certain^ tell you, that
" I remember them on the chairs, and a
** settee, as it was then called, (before soCm
** were introduced) belonging to the two
** eldest of those ladies, from my earliest
*^ childhood, as 1 lived much with them, and
** particulariy with the senior and turmvor of
" them, Mrs. Mary Taylor, who was bom
in the year 1680, and has frequendy told
me that these, and other curious pieces of
'^ needlework, of which I have specimens,
^* were the performance of herself and sisters
** in their youth, and some of them, but I can-
'' not say which, of their mother fiiiieAj
** done at my great-grandfather's house and
** estate at Bifrons, in Kent : when, she said,
'' the Rev. Mr. Sacket, tutor to my grand-
'^ father, Brooke Taylor, LL.D., used very
** good-humouredly to seat himself in an high
'^ window amid their circle, when he had
'' leisure, and read to them whilst they/
'^ worked. With regard to the date of that
** period, I think it must have begun about.
'' A.D. 1695 — because Brooke Taylor, the
** eldest brother, was not bom till 1685
** (August the 18thy>at Edmonton); and we

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

185

perhaps of twenty-five (An. 1536) from his tutor Nicholas Galius^
who we may conclude was then full sixty-seven years of age, — ^for
Junius speaks of him as an old gentleman of very tenacious memory,
and such a description would not be suited to a younger man.
Galius, when a youth — say of eighteen years of age, which brings
us to 1487 — ^heard the relation, several times repeated, from the
mouth of Cornelius, the bookbinder, who was then upwards of
eighty — ^we will call him eighty-two— and Cornelius, when a young
man of three and twenty, lived with Laurence Coster — ^that is, in
the year 1428.

This chronological calculation is far from unreasonable, whilst
it accords sufficiently well with the general* tenor of Junius's state-
ment,* as well as the shorter account of Guicciardini. Indeed, if

*^ can hardly suppose he had a clerical tutor
'' before he was ten years of age, though,
^ from his nfid progress b leamiog, he was
** entered a fellow commoner at Cambii<%e
'' at fifteen. His sister, Mrs. Mary Taylor,
< '< my mother^s aunt, and the eldest of John
*^ Taylor's eighteen children, with whom I
'' often resided, was a fine sensible old lady,
" and died at the age of ninety, in the year
'^ 177 1| when I was two and twenty. What-
'^ ever she asserted might be depended on,
'^ and I wish I had attended more partku-
'^ htfly than I did, to many curious anecdotes
** she rehited — ^the above mentioned little
*^ circumstance, however, is gjnuiine.

^' I remain, &e.

*' Sab. Eliza. Ottlet.*'

If the reader smile at the matter hereb
recorded, he will, I trust, at the same time
acknowledge, that the record itself furnishes
ap iUttstration of the observations in the text,
relative' to oral and traditional testimony*

* I am obliged, however, to suppose Ju-
nius in error, when he states diat Talesius, as
well as Gaiius, had the narrative from old
Cornelius himself. Of Nic. Gaiius, we find
no mention after 1631, 1539, and 1535, in
which years his name occurs in the Fasti of
the city of Harlem, as Scabinus ; and, conse»
quently, we may reasonably suppose him to
have been bom as early as 1459: but Quiri-
nus Talesius lived until the year 1573, when
he was cruelly put to death by the Spanish
soldiers. (Meerman, vol. i. p. 57*) It is
therefore scarcely possible, unless we suppose
both Cornelius wad Taleshis to have reached
the age of nearly an hundred, that the ktter
should have heard the story from the mouth
of the former.

It appears not improbable, diat there
were two bookbinders of die name of Cor^
ndiwj at Harlem; the one the son, or
nephew of the ot)ier. For Meerman found
mention of '^ Comelim the bookbinder^ in the
records of the church of S. Bavon, at Hw>

186

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

Lawrence Coster, or Laurent Janszoon, by whichever name we
call him, was the first inventor of typography ; and if the example
of his imperfect attempts did give rise to the more successful en-
deavours of the printers of Mentz — ^it necessarily follows, I think,
that we must date the period of his discovery of moveable characters,
within the first thirty years of the fifteenth century. But to return
to Lambinet, who, afler having informed us concerning the qualities
necessary to give authority to the testimony of eye-witnesses, and
of oral tradition, now proceeds to speak of historical or written
testimony.

" Written History," says the French writer, " records some
striking event that has happened in the presence of a multitude
of genuine witnesses, who make their depositions concerning it — :
(sous les yeux d'une foule de temoins int^gres qui deposent en sa
faveur.) The historian puts the testimonies of these witnesses,
together ; he calculates their different degrees of intelligence or
probity ;" [I will not quarrel with Lambinet about the degrees
of probity of these " temoins int^gres'*] " he considers their pre-
" judices, their different interests ; he compares their depositions .
'* with each other ;" &c. " he cannot attempt to impose a falsehood

€i

t€

lem, imder the yean 1474, 1485, 1487,
1496, 1503, 1507, 1506, and 1515. Now,
if the chronology in the text is at all correct,
Cornelius must have been an old man- of
ninety in the year 1496. I therefore think it
more reasonable tp conclude, that the four or
five last dates above mendoned refer to a
yimnger Cornelius, the relation and successor
of him who had Kved with JanssKXMi or Cos-
ter, and that Talesius had heard the stoiy
firom this younger Cornelius, — ^than to sup*
pose, with Meerman (vol. ii. p. 3 12), that thqr
all of .them rehte to the same individual — m
suppositbn vrfiicb, as its consequence, forces

Meerman to a conclusion little calculated
to give weight to Cornelius's testimony ; and
which ill accords with the belief, that Jans-
zoon or Coster died in the year 1440; viz.
that Cornelius, when he lived with Coster,
in 1440, was only ten or twelve years of
age. If my hypothesis as to the two Cor-
neliuses be admitted, every objection to the
chronology in the text, that I am aware of,
ceases; since Meerman found memoranda
rehitive to Laurent Janszoon in the archives '
of the church of S. Bavon, of which LAurent •
was Cfisfos, of the years 1423, 1426, 1432,
and 14SS.

CHAP, in,] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

187

*^ upon posterity; for his contemporaries, were his assertions un-
*' founded, would cry out against him, and expose his error/'

I know not what to make of M. Lambinef s definition of written
history. Does he mean to say that no facts, except such as take
place in the presence of a multitude of witnesses, who themselves
immediately, or soon after, testify what they have seen to the historian,
merit to be recorded ^ that the records of less public transactions do
not deserve the name of history, and are unworthy of belief.*^

** Now, even according to the admission of Meerman himself,*^
continues the French writer, '* the Dutch historians did not speak
** of the invention of Lawrence Coster, until a hundred and thirty or
^' a hundred and forty years after his death; viz. Van Zuyren,'*
(Lambinet should have said Coornhert) " in 1561 ; Guicciardini, in
^' 1567; Natalis Comes, in 1581; Junius, in 1588."

It is certainly very diverting to see M, Lambinet ending this
catalogue of the Dutch historians, who spoke on the subject in
question, with the name of Junius ; who he had before told us was
the FIRST person who put it into the heads of the inhabitants of Hol-
land to lay claim to the honour of the invention.

" Before these writers," continues Lambinet, ** Reinier de Snoy,
^' Brassica, Heda, de Roya, and Erasmus, do not say one word
upon the subject — Charles Van Mander and Jacques de Jongh,
who wrote the history of the Dutch artists twenty years after
" Junius, make no mention of Coster : they even doubt that such a
person ever existed.* — Indeed, in the posthumous works of John
Wagenaar, published at Amsterdam, in 1787, in 12mo., under the
title of ' Histories Chryver Jan Wagenaar,* we find, at page 108

t€

€€

* Here is another instance of LanMnefs
want of candour. If Van Mander made no
mention of Coiter, it was because he neither
considered him as a painter, a sculptor, or an
engraver; and he wrote die lives of the
Dutch and Flemish artists, not the Hbtoij of
their Printers. Heineken, like Lambmet,

C Idie G^nicale, p. £81,"^ remarks the
silence of Van Mander as lo Coster, add en*
deavoun to construe it as favourable to the
side he had taken : ^* Carl Fan Mander,''
says he, (p. £889) ^' a crA, sans doute, que ce
« conte de Junim ne m6ritoit pas d'etre rap-
'' port6. Cela devient d'autant plus probable,

2b2

188

SPECULUM HUMAN AE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

" of the second volume, an answer of Meerman to that celebrated
" historian, who had asked his opinion concerning the history of
" Lawrence Coster ; — ^he frankly tells him that he does not believe

it. — He, however, say they, retracted what he had written in a

subsequent letter : he was, therefore, not firm in his opinion (il

n'etoit done point ferme dans son opinion)/'

I cannot suffer this observation of Lambinet, as to Meerman's
wavering, to pass unnoticed. It is ample testimony that the learned
Meerman possessed that candour and impartiality of which Lam-
binet and most other writers on the subject are so woefiiUy defi-

€€

<< que eet «iteur n^hisite pas de dire, que k
^' ville de Harlem oie pritendre k la gloire
*^ de rbveotion de rimprimerie, &c/'

To this passage Heineken gives the follow-
ing note:

** Carl Van Mander, apris avoir dit dans
** la vie de Fan Eyck : que les anciens pein-
^* tres seroient bien £toun6s de voir nos pein-
** tures k lliuile, ainsi qu'Achille, s'il enten-
'' doit nos canons foudroyans, inventus par le
'' moine Schwartz, il ajoute (fol. 200, de
*' ration de 1604, in 8vo.) Que les anciens
** ecrivains ne le seroient pas moins, quand
'' ils verroient Fart iris utile de la typogro'

*^ phie, DONT LA VlLLE DE HaRLBM
'' s'aRROOEOIT D*AV0IR la PRSMIRRB
** INYBNTION AVBC ASSBZ DB PRB80MP-

'' TiON. Daer Harlem met genoech bes^
^' cheyt, haer yebmabt def\ roem van
** ^eerste vindinghe te hebbenJ*

'^ Le z6le des Hollandois pour soutenir
'' leur fameux Coster va si loin, que Jaques
'' de Jongh n'a pas h6sit6 de fidsifier ce tezte
** de Carl Van Mander, dans sa nouvelle
<' ^tion de 1764. II Fa chang6, p. 16,
*^ disant : waar van Harlem zich, op ge-
** noegzamen grond, den roem der eerste
^ vindingtoeschrift; dontHarlbm avec

'' AS8B2 DB FOKDEMfiNT s'aTTRIBUB LA
'^ PRBMIBRB INYBNTION, SCC." ThlS Se-

rious charge is answered by Enschedius, of
Harlem, the printer, who, in a letter written
by him, in Feb. 1770, to De Murr, and
published at page 244 of the first volume of
Jansen's ** Essai sur TOrigine de la Gra-
'' vure," after proving that one of the books
of wood-cuts described by Heineken amongst
the productions of Germany, is Dutch, and
not German, says : '' Je me sers de cette
*^ occasion ponr vous marquer Ferreur que
'' M. de Heinecke a commise dans son
'' Idee Generale d^une collection complite
'' d^estampeSy page 283, quand il charge le
*^ dernier 6diteur de Karl van Mander d'avoir
'' £Ed8ifi6 le texte de son auteur. Cela est
'' tris^aux ; le sens est le mime dans la
*' demiire idition que dans la premOref
*^ quoique paraphrase du dialecte flamand en
** Hollandois, comme on le parle d present.
** Karel Van Mander atnribue sikremenc lln-
'' ventioii de la typographie Jt la ville de
*' Harlem." The expression which Heineken
has translated ^' ose pretendre" is doubtless
no other than a piece of that pompous
phraseology so common in the writers of the
, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

►

CHAP. 111.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATI0NI8. 180

cient, and is the best answer to the accusations of excessive patriotism,
so frequently urged against him by Heineken, and the other writers
of the Mentz party. Meerman, a Dutch gentleman, whom even those
authors who have made themselves the most merry with what they
term his erroneous decisions, have justly complimented upon his pro-
found learning and erudition in typographical antiquities, is called
upon, by his friend Wagenaar, as the person best able, from the
local means of information which he possessed, and his known re-
searches concerning the origin of printing, to give him an opinion
concerning Coster — and he honestly tells him in reply, that he can-
not, does not, give any credit to the story : — ^nay, he joins in all
the arguments usually urged against Coster's pretensions — against
the pretensions of Harlem.*

In the course of his further inquiries, the light of evidence, of
the existence of which he had at first no idea, breaks in upon him,
and he becomes, as some candid and learned writers have done
before him, a convert to that very doctrine which he was preparing
to oppose. Will any reasonable man affirm, that an opinion so
formed, so corrected, is not worth a dozen of the opinions of those
men who first judge, and afterwards seek for evidence ?

Meerman, afl;er he had discovered that evidence which induced
him to abandon his old opinion, may, indeed, naturally be supposed
to have embraced and defended his new one with augmented
energy ; inasmuch as it was conducive to the honour of his country :
the cause, in which he then found himself engaged, was consonant
to his wishes ; and, as we are all inclined to believe that which we
wish to be verified, it is probable that he no longer allowed small
objections to stand in the way of a system of typographical history,
which, he was convinced, was, in the main, true : but those opposed
to him can never with justice affirm that the basis of his system is
no where to be found, except in the patriotic zeal of its author.f

* This letter is given at length in the Ist vol. f If Meerman's change of opinion be to be
of Santander, ^' Diet. Bibliograpbique." brought forward as evidence against the cause

190

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

After mentioning two or three old writers who award the inven-
tion of printing to Mentz, M. Lambinet at length recollects the test-
timony of Ulric Zell in '' the Cologn Chronicle/'

*' It is true," says he, *' that in the Cologn Chronicle of the year
1499, Ulric Zell testifies that the first attempts at printing were
made in Holland ; and that these were the Donatuses which long
before" (viz. before the invention of printing in Mentz) " had
been sculptured, (sculptes,) and had given the idea."
We shall presently shew, that the Cologn Chronicle does not
state whether these Donatuses were printed from engraved blocks

i€

t€

of Harlem, it will be easy to shew that the
writers of the opposite party are not wholly ex-
empt from the aame weakness. JPiicA^r, in his
** Essai sur les Monuments Typographiques
'' de Jean Gutenberg,'* (4to. i, Mayence,
An. X.) p. 64, prepares his readers for the
detoiption of some printed filaments lately
discovered, which he ascribes to Gutenberg,
in the foUowing note : ** Je ne balance pas
'' d'apr^ ces m£mes observations i retracter
'' Tasserdon que j'ai donn6e dans mes Ty-
** pographischen Sdtenheiten (1 livraison,
** No. 3.) que le fragment de Donat que j'ai
'< fait graver appartenait i Gutenberg.
** La mani^e est tout-i-fait diff^rente de la
*^ sienne, et approche de celle que Meerman
'' attribue i, Laurent Koster. U en est
<< de mfeme de deux autres fragmens que je
" posside, et dont Tun est un don du C^.
** Oberlin. Je crois que cette impression est
'' pen connue, et m6rite une description par-
'' ticuliire. Fragmentum Docirinalis Alex*
** andri GcJli, deuxfemlleti sur parchemin,
'< in 4to. Caract^ i gros corps, mobile, les
*^ ligoes, au nombre de 38 sur chaque page,
** sont bien arrang^es. J^ noir est 6pai8 et
<< i I'huile. lie genre dimpression ressemble
** i celui de la page d'un livre intitule Spe*

*^ ctilum Latinum, primae Editioms, qu6
'' Meerman a fait graver. (Monument. Ty*
'^ pograph. Tab. V.>— J'ai une autre feuille
*^ sur parchemin qui est du mfeme livre que
'' Meerman annonce comme la troisiime
'^ Edition du Donat de Harlem. Mais com-
'^ ment justifier que c'est Laurent Kos-
'^ TBR qui Fait imprim6 i En examinant ces
'' deux feuilles avec attention, on reconnait
*^ qu'elles sont sorties de la presse de
** Richard Paffraet de Cologne, impri-
'' meur i Daventer." I may have fiiture
occasion to refer to this note; meanwhile,
I know not how frur I may depend on the
assertion of Fischer, that this edition ofAlex^-
afidri Galli Docirinalis, was printed by Pqf'
fraet* The same edition seems to be spoken
of by FisscTy in his catalogue of books, vrith*
out date, printed in the Low Countries, in*
serted in Jansen^s work, '' de I'lnvenUon de
'' rimprimerie/' Visser ascribes the book to
the press of the successors of Laurent Jans-
zoon previous to 1470. He possessed two
fragments of the work which, says hei,
p. 345, '^ servent de gardes & la ' Gemma
" < Vocabularum,* imprim^e i, Deventer, par
'^ Richard Paffraet, en 1495, qui est encore
** dans sa premiere ancienne couverture.*'

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. lei

or with moveable characters : in this place M. Lambinet is evidently^
endeavouring to mislead his reader.

^* But the opinion of the learned in general, and of Meerman
" himself, is, that six or seven other works of the same kind had
'* been engraved on blocks of wood, previous to these Donatuses^
'* in Germany and in Italy."

Here an acknowledgment of Meerman is ingeniously brought
against himself. Of this I shall not complain, as it is only what I
am endeavouring to do with Lambinet.

^* Besides, if it had been certain that these Donatuses were en-
'* graved at Harlem, Ulric Zell would not have failed to mention this
'* birth-place of Coster, as he has expressly mentioned Strasburg
" and Gutenburg for the first attempts of the art, and Mentz as
'* the place where it was perfected."

This kind of negative argument is now become very fashion-
able ; it implies that each old writer must have known every
thing which, when he wrote, could be known ; and, as a matter
of course, that he must have recorded every thing that he knew.
Supposing, however, for a moment, that M. Lambinet is right in
the opinion that the earliest block-books were printed in Germany
and in Italy; and not in Holland; it will then be fair to infer that
the Donatuses printed in Holland, which Ulric Zell mentions as
having given the hint of typography to the printers of Mentz, must
have been printed with moveable characters : for, if block-printing
had been in use in Germany, or elsewhere, before it was practised
in Hollands he could never have intended to say, that the idea of
typography was taken by the German printers from the block-
books fabricated in Holland; since those of Germany would have
had at least equal claims to his mention, and he would never have
travelled to Holland for that which could be found at home.

The testimony of Ulric Zell, as preserved in ** the Cologn Chro-
nicle,*' of 1499, is as follows ; and is certainly, as far as it goes,
entitled to be considered as most unexceptionable evidence on the
side of Holland, generally ; since Zell, who was the father of the '

4f
4€
€€
U
44

192 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi.

Cologn press^ appears to have derived his knowledge of the art of
printing at Mentz, and was a native of Germany :

*' Item : this most revered art [of printing] was first discovered
'* at MentZy in Germany ; and it is a great honour to the German
** nation, that such ingenious men were found in it. This happened
in the year of our Lord mccccxl ; and from that time, till the
year mccccl, the art, and what belongs to it, was rendered more
perfect. In the year of our Lord mccccl, which was a golden
year, [or Jubilee year] then men began to print, and the first
book printed was a Bible in Latin, and it was printed in a larger
'^ character than that with which men now print mass-books.
'^ Item : although this art was discovered at Mentz at first, in the
*^ manner in which it is now commonly used, yet the first example
" of it was found in Holland, in the Donatuses which were before
printed there. And thence is derived the beginning of this art,
and it is [now] more masterly and subtle than the ancient manner
was, and by far more ingenious.
[ " The Chronicler," says Mr. Dibdin, who has kindly permitted
me to extract this translation from the " Bibliotheca Spenceriana,"
*' goes on to refute the assertion advanced by Omnibonus, in the
" edition of Quintilian, of 1471, which makes Jenson the inventor
" of the art of printing ; and thus proceeds :]

" — ^but the first inventor of printing was a citizen of Mentz, and
*^ was bom at Strasbourg,* and was called John Gudenburch.
" Item: from Mentz, the before-mentioned art first came to
" Cologne, thence to Strasbourg, and thence to Venice. The
" beginning and progress of the before-mentioned art was told
" me, by word of mouth, by the worthy man. Master Ulrich
'^ Tzell of Hanault, printer at Cologne, in the present year

€€
ft
U

* It is remarkable that Gutenberg is, in Lignamine. This seems to have been a

like manner, stated to have been a native of common error in very early times. See the

gtrasbouig instead of Mentz, in the Chro* *^ Bibliotheca Spenceriana,^ vol. iii. p. 9^9.
H^cle, printed at Rome in 1474, by J. P. de

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 19S

'* Mccccxcix — ^by whom the forementioned art is come to Cologne."
" &c. fol. cccxii recto.'^

Mr. Dibdin, in his observations on this interesting passage,
answers the objections brought against it by Schcepflin in his Vin-
dicuB TypograpMca (p. 76-7) ; and corrects the erroneous assertion of
that writer, who stated that Peter de Olpe, and not Ulric Zell, was
the first Cologne printer. He proves that Zell printed there as early
as the year 1466, — ^four years before Olpe — ^^ Upon the whole," Mr.
Dibdin observes, that ** the evidence of Ulric Zell appears to be as
" honest as it is curious."

But to return to Lambinet, who now comes to the fourth kind of
evidence which he proposed to discuss — existing monuments.

" Those monuments whose origin can be traced to the period
^' when the facts, of which they are the witnesses, took place, are
without doubt the strongest proofe of historical truths. Their
number, their conformity, their agreement, prove the reality of
the fact, the moment they appear. It is impossible that the per-
sons living at the time, who saw them made, could have been
deceived with regard to facts at once numerous and of public
notoriety. It is impossible that the learned of our own days, who
" have these authentic [and speaking monuments before their eyes,
'' should be all of them mistaken as to their ancient existence, and
'* the events which have consigned them to us."

If by these ** authentic and speaking monuments," Lambinet
means ancient printed books without dates or colophons, I believe
his position may be safely denied : — ^the learned, it is true, cannot
all be in the same error concerning them, since scarcely any two of
them are agreed : — ^might it not be asked of him, where are the
authentic and undoubted specimens of the press of Gutenberg ?*

€€
4€
44
44
44

* Even the celebrated Bible, of vhich I printed by Gutenberg, of wbich edition he

have spoken briefly in a note at p. 100, is says no copy is now known. See the first

doubted. — Lambinet, indeed, is decidedly volume of his '' Origine de rimprimerie,''

of opinion that it is not diat which was p. ISO, & seq. Fischer, in his ** Essai sur

2 C

4€
4€

194 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

** Now, I ask/*, continues he, '' which is the authentic monument
" of the invention of Lawrence Coster? — ^Where is it to be found?
" Meeiman, it is true, laboured five years to complete his Origines
" Typographies, and Kamebeck has engraved plates of the pretended
** characters of Coster, with the greatest care. It is impossible to
'^ find greater research or more profound erudition, than what is

«' contained in this work," &c. &c. &c. " But he never was

" able to prove that ' the fragments of prayers* preceded by * the
" letters of the alphabet,* found pasted into the cover of an old book
^' by Enschedius, and printed on both sides, were the work of Lau-
'^ rence Coster, any more than the Donatuses, the Speculum Salutis,
*' &c. which he attributes to him gratuitously.** .

" I conclude, therefore,** says M. Lambinet, '* with Chevillier,
" Foumier, Heineken, Fischer, and the great majority of those

bibliographers who are well informed and free from prejudice,

that there exists no proof that Laurent, sumamed Coster, was
" either an engraver, a sculptor, or a printer.**
. The man, confident in his own prowess, will not degrade himself
by attacking his enemy unawares, ere he has buckled on his armour,
and is prepared for the combat. The artful and cautious manner
in which I^ambinet has here disposed his forces, whilst none of those
on the opposite side are at their proper posts, is of itself an indica-
tion of his weakness. He attempts to insnare his adversary, and to
cut him to pieces in detail — fearing to risk a general engagement
He sets off with threatening his defeat, and, afterwards, that he may
appear to have been as good as his word, proclaims a victory which
he has not gained. But — ^to have done with metaphor — the whole
argument of Lambinet is a tissue of sophistry, calculated to deceive
his reader into the belief of premises, which, in great part at least,

les Monuments Typographiques de Jean (p. 71. and p. 75). Fischer is probably right,

Gutenberg," thinks differently, and ascribes —but where are the proofs which Lambioel

it to Gutenberg, who, he is of opkiion, requires?
printed it between the years 1450 and 1455,

4t
it
t€

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 195

are not true, and the admission of consequences which do not ne-
cessarily follow those premises.

Enough has been already said to prove that Junius was not the
inventor of the traditions which he recorded; and that, without
outrage to probability, those traditions may readily be supposed
to have been preserved and handed down in the way which he and
the other writers, who have been cited, describe. I shall now oifer
two or three remarks on some of the particulars of Junius's account;
which, fer from meriting the title of romance, by which Lambinet
and many other writers have designated it, bears very strong marks
of genuine testimony.

^^ Habitavit ant^ annos centum duodetriginta Harlemi in aedibus

satis splendidis, &c. — Laurentius Joannes cognomento Aedituus

Custosve, (quod tunc opimum et honorificum munus familia eo

nomine clara haereditario jure possidebat) &c.''

Junius, it appears, was in error when he asserted that the office
of Custos (Coster) was hereditary in the family of Laurent Janszoon ;
but this trifling incorrectness can in no wise impeach the verity of
his narrative generally: that Laurent Janszoon was really the
Custos of the church of St Bavon, at Harlem, appeasr from the
registers of that church, of the years 1423-1426-1433, and 1433^
and it is very probable that, in consequence of his office, he was often
called by the surname of Coster-

^^ Is forte in suburbano nemore spatiatus (ut solent, &c.) coepit
" faginos cortices principio in literarum typos conformare," &c.

It has been urged, in objection to this passage, that the baik
of the beech-tree is unfit for the purpose of making letters for
printing ; being soft, when it is green ; and too brittle to withstand
the force of the press, when dry. To this objection, it may be
answered, that Junius does not assert tiiat these small sentences
were printed with a press : — ^they might have been printed, letter
by letter, with the hand ; and the letters might have been cut on
square pieces of the bark of the beech-tree, prepared for the purpose,
with a certain thickness of the solid wood attached to them« so as

2 c2

44
44

186 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

to have been capable of resisting considerable pressure.* Of the di*
mensions of the letters here referred to, Junius says nothing : — ^they
might, for aught we know to the contrary, have been of an inch
square. — ^Upon the whole, we can only consider this passage as an
obscure and imperfect tradition of the first attempts made by Coster
to print with separate characters ; — attempts, the success of which
gave rise to his farther experiments ; till at length the art, which
had been at first taken up as the amusement of a leisure hour,
became improved, and was practised by him as a profitable trade.

** Quod ubi feliciter successerat, &c cum genero suo Thoma

Petro, qui quaternos liberos reliquit, onmes ferme consulari
dignitate functos (qiiod eo dico ut artem in familia honesta et
ingenua, hand servili, natam intelligant omnes) excogitavit,"
Junius not only records the name of the inventor of Typography,
and describes the place of his residence — but even mentions the
name of his son-in-law, whom he says lefi; four children, who after-
wards enjoyed high offices in the government. These particulars
of family history, confirmed as they appear to be by authentic docu-
ments, constitute abundant evidence as to the identity of Laurent
Janszoon, and would have furnished ample means of detecting the
falsehood of Junius, had he written with the intention of deceiving
his readers : as for the trifling incorrectness of Junius, who speaks
of four children of Thomas, the son of Peter, all of whom enjoyed
the honors of the state, — ^whereas he had only three sons and two
daughters — ^it is scarcely worth noticing. The difference is, indeed,
good evidence that the genealogy of Coster's family, preserved by
Scriverius, was not manufactured for the purpose of confirming
Junius's statement.

Junius continues : ^' inde etiam pinaces totas figuratas additis cha*

* The conjecture in the text, was suggested to have been cut separately, on wood of the

to me by a block, probably of Asiatic manu- thickness of an eighth of an inch, and after*

facture, in the possession of Mr. Singer. The wards glued upon the plain surface of the

letters are of the diameter of about half an block,
inch each; and appear, upon examination.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 197

'< racteribus expressit: quo in genere vidi ab ipso excusa ad-

" versaria, &c is liber erat vemaculo sermone ab auctore con-

^f scriptus anonymo^ titulum praeferens. Speculum Nostrae Salutis,
^^ &c/' ^^ Postea fieigiiias formas plumbeis mutavit, has deinceps
^^ stanneas feciV &c.

I shall presently speak of the editions of the Speculum with
which I am acquainted^ meanwhile I must observe, that I am in-
clined to consider the word postea of Junius, in this place, in the
same light in which I have found by experience, we must so often
take the words dope and poi, in the writings of Vasari : viz. as no
other than a means (carelessly and improperly used) of connecting
two sentences together ; and I have no doubt whatever, that if the
edition of the Speculum, of which Junias here speaks, was the same
as either of the Dutch editions now known, it was printed, not with
separate characters of wood, but with types of metal. Let the
sentence, beginning with ** Postea," precede that, in which Junius
describes the Speculum, and the whole will be inteUigible. That
the letter-press of that work should have been printed, as Meerman
supposes, with moveable characters of wood, is, I hesitate not to
say, impossible.*

Junius proceeds : ^' e quorum typorum reliquiis quae superfuerant
^^ conflata oenophora vetustiora adhuc hodie visuntur,'' &c<

It would have been more satisfactory evidence of the ancient
existence of Coster's printing office, say the opposers of Junius, if
his descendants had preserved the remains of his old type in its
original state ! ! True — ^but that they should have converted it
into useful, and, perhaps, ornamental articles of furniture, was by
no means unnatural ; and it is to be remembered, that if Junius
wrote that, for which he had no authority, for the purpose of im-
posing upon his readers, it would have been as easy for him to have
stated that the old type itself still existed in Coster's house, as that
it was converted into drinking cups.

* Meerman appears to haye changed his fiivor of type, tbe shafts of which were cast,
opinion afterwards, and to have declared in and the letters upon them cut by hand.

198 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

Upon the story of the robbery I shall here offer no remark, ex-
cept that it is evident from the words of Junius, when speaking
of the robber: ^^ postquam artem jungendorum characterum,

^* fusilium typorum peritiam, &c percalluisse sibi visus est," &c.

that the type stolen from Coster was cast type.

It is unnecessary to add to what has already been said concerning
the authorities upon which Junius wrote his account. If either
they or he be entitled to our respect, it follows, I think, that his
narrative, if defended at all, must be defended as, in the main,
true ;— not explained away, so as to suit a previous hypothesis ; nor
weakened by indiscreet concession, with a view to conciliate con*
tending interests. If there be any truth in the assertion of Junius,
that Coster printed the Speculum previous to the establishment of
printing at Mentz, he was the inventor of Typography, properly so
called ; — ^not of moveable characters of wood only, as Meerman
satisfies himself with insisting upon, but also of cast metal types : —
the printers of Mentz, indeed, will still claim the praise of having
given the last polish to the newly discovered art— of having shewn,
by the va^stness of their undertakings, that they first appreciated its
importance^^and of having disseminated the knowledge of it
throughout Europe : — ^but to Coster will belong the invention. — If,
on the other hand, it can be clearly shewn that this work, the only
one expressly ascribed to Coster by Junius, was not printed at
Harlem, and that its claims to antiquity have been greatly over-
rated— ^then it will be vain to pursue the controversy, and we shall
be justified in concluding, with the majority of writers on the
subject, that the pretensions of Coster have no solid foundation,

I have already stated (p. 154) that one of the Latin editions of
the Speculum is generally considered as the first edition of the
book. I say generally; because Meerman has taken immense pains
to proye that a Dutch, or Flemish edition, of which two copies are
preserved at Harlem, is the most ancient ; and Junius, as we have
seen, wheij speaking of the work, mentions a Dutch edition only.
It is however probable that Junius had not happened to see a Latin

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 109

copy ; and it would, in any case, be too much to argue from his
silence, as to the Latin editions, that he believed them to be \eds
ancient than the Dutch, or printed by another hand.

The chief arguments in favour of the priority of the Latin edition,
(I speak of that which is commonly called the ^rst Latin edition)
Bie two: — ^first, the inscriptions under the cuts are in the Latin
language ; a convincing proof, it is insisted by thte opposers of Meer-
man, that the artist, whoever he was, had an edition in that language
in his contemplation when he engraved the cuts ; and, secondly, the
text in that edition is in part printed from engraved wooden blocks^
in the manner of the ordinary block-books; which gives strong
grounds for the belief, that the printer, at the commencement of
his undertaking, was ignorant of the art of printing with move-
able characters, but that he discovered it in the course of the
work.

In the Flemish or Dutch editions, on the contrary, the text is
entirely printed with moveable characters ; a circumstance which,
when coupled with the anomaly occasioned by the inscriptions
under the cuts being still in the Latin tongue, furnishes, it must be
allowed, strong presumptive evidence that those editions were after-
thoughts of the printer ; and executed by him, after the first Latin
edition, for the convenience of such as were unskilled in the dead
languages.

Heineken forcibly urges these arguments in favour of tiie priority
of this Latin edition. " It is admitted,'* says he, " that the Flemish
edition is printed entirely with moveable type, how then can any
one suppose that it is the first ? Is it probable that the printer,
whoever he was, after he had printed one edition entirely with
moveable type, should have had recourse to an engraver in wood
to assist in preparing a second edition ? And, if we suppose that
" he himself was an engraver in wood, and the inventor of typo-
** graphy, what must have been his folly to abandon his invention
^* in a second edition ?
" When Meerman insists/' continiies Heineken, " that it was not

U
U
€€

44
44

44
44
44

200 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, in,

'' Coster himself^ but his heirs after his death, who printed this
^' Latin edition, — ^part with wooden blocks, and part with moveable
" characters of wood, — ^he is hurried away by his patriotism, and
forgets that neither Cornelius nor Junius say one word concerning
the press of the heirs of Coster.

*^ In addition to this," continues the same writer, *' I must ob-
serve, that it is by no means probable that an ancient printer
should have thought of printing a translation, rather than an
original, when the original itself had not been yet printed. All
the world will agree at least that the ancient manuscripts of this
^^ book are in Latin, and that the Flemish translation is more
" modem. The example which Meerman cites of the Bible, first
^' printed in Flemish, makes against him. The Latin Bible had
'* been previously printed in Germany. It is therefore more than
** probable — ^nay, almost certain — ^that the Speculum Salvationis
'^ in Latin, was, in like manner, first printed in Germany ; and that
^' it was afterwards translated and printed in the Low Countries.'' *
This argument of Heineken is, upon the whole, a good one ; but
his conclusion is, as usual, the result of the same patriotic zeal of
which he accuses Meerman. For the text in the Flemish edition
is printed, as he himself observes in another page,f with the very
same type which was used in printing forty-three pages of the Latin
edition ; and it is surely extremely improbable that the engraved
cuts, and the type also, should have found their way from Germany
into the Low Countries.

Heineken conjectures that the Speculum Salvationis is less an-
cient than the block-books before described. He is of opinion,
'* that the artist who engraved the twenty pages of text on wooden
" blocks,'* in the Latin edition, '* was one of those employed by
** Gutenberg and Fust; (for," says he, " they had certainly
'^ engravers in their service,) and that this engraver, having himself
w become a printer, finished the remainder of the work with cast

• ** Id£e G^Q^rale,'' pp. 451, 452. f Idem. p. 449-

CHIP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIOMS. SOI

metal type, newly invented/' Who this pupil of Gutenberg and
Fust was, or who was the author of the cuts, he has not given us
any clue to discover.*

He is also of opinion, " that we cannot safely conclude that
^* the cuts and the text were engraved and printed at the time,

merely because the cuts represent the same subjects described in

the text. It is very certain,'* says he, " that Latin manuscripts
'^ of this work existed, ornamented with vignettes painted in dis-
'* temper, in several of the libraries of Germany, at least as early
** as the twelfth century, and nothing therefore would have been
*' more easy than for a designer or engraver in wood to copy these
** vignettes after one of those manuscripts, and to engrave 4ttiem in
'* wood, long before any one thought of printing the Latin text or
*' the Flemish f translation."

To this argument, which I cannot help suspecting was used by
Heineken as a measure of caution, (lest the antiquity of the cuts,
and the school in which they were executed, should hereafter be
proved, and brought forward as evidence in favor of the preten-
sions of Harlem) it may reasonably be objected, that, had such
been the case, some copy or fragment of the work, without the
printed text, would probably be found ; whereas no such copy is
known to exist: and, moreover^ that the characters in the short
inscriptions at the bottom of the cuts, although they were perhaps
engraved by a different artist frdm the one who engraved the twenty
pages of text in the Latin edition so often mentioned, appear to be
of the same age. It should seem therefore most reasonable to con-
clude, (under the supposition thai the Latin edition is really the
first) that the whole was undertaken at the same time ; the execu-
tion of the cuts being confided to one or more artists skilfiil in
engraving figures ; the pages of text, to others more accustomed to
that department of wood engraving ; and that the printer, in the

* Ute Ginirale, pp. 446, 447. t Ic^> P* 449.

209 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, in;

iDOurse of his operations^ became informed of the method of printing
with moveable characters, or himself discovered it.

But even supposing this to be certain, which I shall presently
shew is very far from being the case, it would go but a Uttle way in
support of Heineken's opinion, that the Latin Speculum, and the
first editions of all the block-books which he describes, are the pro-
ductions of Germany.

The arguments in favour of the priority of the Latin edition in
which the text is in part printed from engraved blocks, appear indeed
so strong, that, on first considering the subject, I felt little difficulty
in joining with the great majority of bibliographical writers in the
opinioajk or rather conviction, that that edition was really the most
ancient. Accident, however, put me in possession of undoubted
evidence that such was not the case ; and the axiom, that one proof
is worth a dozen arguments, was strikingly exemplified. For an
opportunity chanced to offer to me of comparing two very fine copies
of the Speculum ;— «-one, of the Latin edition above-mentioned, — ^the
other, of what is commonly termed the second Dutch edition ; * when
I most unexpectedly discovered that the impressions of the cuts, in
the Dutch copy, had been taken off previously to those in the Latin
copy; and, consequently, that the Dutch is the oldest of the two.

This was ascertained, beyond the possibility of doubt, by a very
carefiil comparison of many of the cuts in the two copies ; for,
although, upon a first view, the impressions in both appeared equally
perfect, I perceived, upon a minute examination, that several of
those in the Latin edition had been taken off after certain little
pieces of the engraved blocks, some of them in the central parts
of the compositions, had been broken away by the operation of
printing them ; whereas in the Dutch copy, the impressions of those
little pieces were complete.

* They were the property of the late ofBhiiidford. Lord Speocer has since boiq^ht
Ralph Willett, Esq. The Lathi copy, shortly the Dutch copy,
after I saw it, was purchased by the Marquis *

MAP. III.] . SPECULUM HUMAN AE SALVATIONIS. eos

Those, who are conversant with the subject of wood engraving,
well know that engraved blocks are extremely liable to this species
of accident upon their being first printed ; * especially in those
places Yhere the thin projecting strokes are not sufficiently sup-
ported and strengthened by other strokes in their immediate vici-
nity; and will immediately perceive that the deficiencies in the
impressions of the wood engravings in the Latin Speculum, in parts
which are found perfect in the impressions of the Dutch edition,
constitute certain proof that they were taken off after those of the
Dutch edition.

For these small deficiencies in the impressions of the Latin edition
cannot be accounted for by the supposition that the blocks were
not sufficiently covered with the ink when they were printed; or
that the accidental intervention of some thin body, which might
have fallen on the block after it was charged with the ink, pre-
vented the paper fi*om coming in contact with the ink in those
parts ; since the places where the little pieces have been broken out
from the blocks, previous to printing the Latin edition, are clearly
determined ; and are, indeed, distinctly perceptible, even on the
backs of the impressions; in consequence of the shining appearance
of the paper, as well as the indentation occasioned in it, in all places
where it came in contact with the projecting strokes of the engraved
block, during the application of the firiction by which the impres-
sions were taken off.

As I aip probably the first bibliographical writer (if, during this
chapter, I may be allowed to assume the title) who has thought of
resorting to this mode of ascertaining with certainty the relative
ages of the different editions of such books as are ornamented with
impressions taken from the same engraved blocks; and as my
discoveries in this instance may be found of some use to him
who shall hereafter feel disposed to prosecute such fiirther inquiry

* Heir liability to such accidents was printing them by friction, formerly used«
probably still greater, under the mode of

2d2

ao4

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi.

into the claims of Harlem as may reasonably promise, in their
result, the means of pronouncing justly concerning this long dis-
puted question, I am induced to illustrate my observations by the
following fac-similes, shewing the minute differences in the im-*
pressions of several of the cuts in the two editions of the Speculum
above mentioned.* I premise, lest the reader should suppose these

* My first discovery, as has been said, was
made upon a comparison of the two copies
before mentioned. The Marquis of Bland-
ford's Latin copy I have not since had an
opportunity of examining further; but by
the kindness of my friend, Mr. Singer, I have
been furnished with the loan of another Latin
copy of the same edition; by means of which,
and the Dutch copy of Lord Spencer, who
has liberally entrusted it to my care for a
few days, I have been enabled to pre-
pare the elucidations now presented to the
reader. Both these copies have the good
fortune not to have had the blank sides of
their leaves pasted together.

The Dutch copy of Lord Spencer has
therefore been compared with two copies of
the edition called " the first Latin ;** and the
same imperfections in the impressions of the
cuts have been found in both the Latin copies,
in places which are fonad perfect in the edition
called '' the second Dutch" I have little or
no doubt that the same variations will be found
upon comparing any two other copies of the
same editions; and, if this be the case, I
submit that these circumstances, added to the
fact of there being no copy or fragment of
this work known, in which the pages under
the cuts are left blank or filled up by manu-
script, constitute unanswerable evidence that
the cuts and the text were printed at the same
period; and that, consequently, there b no
ground whatever for the opinion of Heineken,

mentioned at p. 201, that the cuts were, or
might have been, engraved long prior to the
printing of the text : unless, indeed, we are
to admit the extravagant supposition, that an
ahist engraved these cuts twenty or thir^
years previous to the invention of typography,
for the purpose of htmt^ them ready to pro-
dace when that art should be invented! Nor
is the hypothesis of a friend of mine more
admissible; who, having long been accus-
tomed to consider the Latin edition, in part
printed with wooden blocks, as the most
ancient, and being unwilling to relinquish his
old opinion, suggests, that the printer, to
whom the engraved cuts appertained, took
off, in the first instance, as many impressions
of the cuts as could be wanted ybr all the
different editions which he mighty at any
future time, be called upon to publish ; (let
us suppose a thousand impressions of each
cut;) and that, these impressions being tied
up in bundles, it might, and did, so happen,
that the impressions last taken off came into
use in printing the first edition of the book.

There is, in fact, only one reasonable and
safe conclusion to be drawn from the varia-
tions in the impressions of the cuts ; viz. that
those editions, in which we discover imperfec-
tions in the impressions of the cuts, such as I
have described, not to be found in other edi-
tions, are of a date posterior to those editions
in which such imperfections do not appear.

CBAP. in.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 20*

specimens to have been selected partially, with a view to favor my
argument, (and lest, in consequence, he should be disposed to doubt
whether or not the whole of the impressions in the edition, com-
monly called " the First JLatin," were taken oflf after those of the
** second Dutch edition," as it is termed,) that, where a fracture is
discoverable in any cut in the Dutch edition, the same is invariably
found in the Latin edition : oH:en, however, with considerable aug-
mentation, as will now be shewn.*

EtUtion, cxmmonly calkd the
Second Dutch Edition.

Edition, commonly called the
First Latin Edition.

The base of the pillar dividing the two subjects is perfect
in the Dutch copy. One of its perpendicular lines is
broken away in the Latin :

Base of the pilaster on the right hand : one of the perpen-
dicular lines is in some degree fractured in the Dutch
copy : — the piece is broken away in the L<attn :

* Hieae et^raved illiutralioiu are Jae- Ascture, and are noticed in the teit. Minute

$imiUt, DO fuither than aa re«pects tkote eiactneas, in copying every touch of the

partt of the blocki which, previous to the graver, in other parts, wai not deemed of

printbg of the Latin edition, had nffered importance.

KM SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATI0NI8. [oAr.iii.

ImpronoD

10. The base of the pilaster on the right hand bears evidence of
a simitar fracture of the block, in the Latin copy :

Capital of the small pillar over the head of the Virgin : a
small piece of it broken away, in the latin copy :

13. The tower in the right hand compartment, which is perfect
in the Dutch copy, shews signs of a considerable fracture
in one of its perpendicular lines, in the Latin :

CHXP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. JOT

Impreauon

14. Right hand comer at bottom: the foot of the servant of
Abraham is perfect in the Dutch copy, but fractured in
the Latin, and a piece of the horizontal line underneath
it, inrhich is found in the Dutch copy, is wanting in the
Latin t

17. Left-hand compartment. — ^The left spandle of the arch,
which is fractured in the Dutch copy, shews marks of still
greater injury in the hatin ; — part of one of the curved
lines having been forced out of its place in the block,
previous to printing the Latin copy :

46. Left-hand compartment. — ^The left curve of the arch is
already fractured in the Dutch copy; — the fracture is
considerably augmented in the Latin :

208

SPECULUM HUMAN AE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi.

ImpressioD

In the base of the central pillar, in the same cut, one of the
perpendicular lines, which is perfect in the Dutch copy, is
fractured in the Latin :

In the same cut, the block had received a small fracture in
one of the upright lines of the base of the pilaster on the
right-hand, previous to its being employed for the im-
pressions of the Dutch copy: — ^in the Latin copy, the
whole of that line is wanting :

55. Base of the pillar in the center : considerably fractured in
one of its upright lines, in the Latin copy :

•

CHAP. Ill] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 209

Imprettioa

The Base of the pilaster, or half pillar, on the right, in the
same cut, appears likewise fractured in the Latin copy, as
also a part of the perpendicular marginal line : whereas
both these pieces are perfect in the Dutch copy :

The discovery thus made* of the relative ages of the two editions
of the Speculum above mentioned, rendered me desirous of ascer-
taining, by similar means, the order of time in which the two other
ancient editions of this book were put forth ; " the first Dutch
" edition," as it is called, and " the second Latin/' Of the former
edition, two copies, said to be the only ones at present known,
are preserved at Harlem ; and that city likewise possesses a copy of
the second Latin edition — ^also a book of very great rarity.

Through the intervention of a friend,f I was a short time since
enabled to transmit to Holland a few queries, the answers to which.

* It is surprizing that neither Meerman
nor Heineken should have thought of recur-
ring to this mode of ascertaining the relative
ages of the four early editions of the Specu-
lum ; since they both knew that the cuts in
all of them were taken off from the same
identical blocks, and even observed that the
impressions, in some editions of the work^
did not appear so perfect as in others. The
former, ('' Origines," tom. i. p. 106.) when
speakuq; «f Veldener's edition of 1483, says
of the cuts ; ** Quae tamen ex frequent! usu
^' tabularum illic aliquantulum apparent de-
'' tritae ;" and the latter, C' Id4e G6n6rale,''
p. 144.) amongst his arguments in fiivour of
die priority of the edition which he caUs

'' the first Latin,'* goes so far as to assert
(which we have seen is not the truth) ^' that
'' he has remarked, that in ' the second
'' ' Latin' and in ' the Dutch editions,' the
** impressions of the strokes are ruder, and
** not so sharp ; because," says he, ** the
*^ blocks had been in use some time before
** the impressions for those editions were
" taken off."

f Mr. James Walker; whose eicellent
mezzotintos after some of the pictures in the
imperial collection. at Petereburgh are well
known. By means of this gentleman, my
letter was put into the hands of Mr. W. H. S.
Westreenen, of the Hague, Director of the
literary Academy of Zealand, Member of

210

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

I had reason to flatter myself, would put me in possession of the
information sought for. fieing aware of the possibility that my
queries might be put into the hands of a decided partizan of Costen
and, perhaps, a strenuous supporter of the hypothesis of Meerman,
I took care not to preface them by any thing which might lead
my then unknown correspondent to suppose that their writer had
any particular doubts as to the priority of the edition which Meer-
man has taken so much pains to prove to be the first. The ques-
tions, as to the fractures in the blocks, were confined to six in
number ; which, with the answers received, are here inserted.

Query 1. — In the impression of the Second Cut, in the^r^^ Latin
ecUtian of the Speculum, the base of the central pillar, dividing the
two subjects, has one of its perpendicular lines wanting : thus

Is this line wanting in ihejirst Dutch, and in the second Latin edition ?

Answer. — *^ The part of the line, marked with points,* is open in
** ihejirst Dutch,** as above, ^^ but complete in the second Latin edi-
'' tion;''— thus ;

thai at Leyden, and Correspondeot of the
Dutch Listitate. Mr. Westreenen had the
goodness to forward my queries to his correa-
pondent at Harlem, the learned bookseller
and poet, Loorjes, and to transmit me the
answers here given. I regret that I have not
had the opportunity of seeing a work upon the

discovery of printiiig, which Mr. Westreenen
informs me he himself published in 1809-

* In my letter to Holland, I had used points
to mark the vacant places conteming which I
desired to be informed, in order to fix the at-
tention of my correspondent to those particulars
the more effectually. They are here omitted.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. au

Query 2. — In the impression of the Third Cut in the ^fra* Latin,
and in the second Dutch edition, a small part of the upright line of
the base of the pilaster on the right hand is wanting : — Is it wanting
in theirs/ Dutch and the second Latin editions ; and is the 6-acture
augmented in either of them ?

Answer. — « The part of the line marked with points is open, both
" in the second Latin and^rst Dutch editions."*

Query 5. In the impression of the Eighth Cut, in the second
Dutch edition, a small part of the horizontal line, above the word
piariam, adjoining the base of the pilaster on the right hand, is
wanting, — thus :

is this piece wanting in thejirst Dutch and second Latin editions ?

Answer. — " In the horizontal ground line, the part marked with
*' points is complete in the second Latin aad Jirst Dutch editions."

The answer given to this question fiimishes evidence that the
edition of this work, commonly called the seamd Latin, preceded that
termed the second Dutch, and, consequently, that it is \he first edition
of the book. But that the edition called the first Dutch, should, also,
be complete in the impression of this piece of line, which is wanting
in the edition called the second Dutch (notwithstanding this last is
of a prior date) is not easily to be comprehended. I am, therefore,
obliged to suppose that the copy of the Dutch edition, upon which

* T do not thiiik it oecessar; to grre > &c- Dutch, lihtfractwe teaa augmented, it would
nmfle of this litde {Hece, as the answer re- have proved not onl; that the edition c^ed
ceived to my question mvolves no consequence " the second I«tin" was the Jint edition of
whatever. Had this line been fbuod compete the book, bat also dwt the fint Dutch, as it il
in the second latin edition, whilst b the first termed, was ihe/ffwfA.
2 E 2

212 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap i".

my correspondent at Harlem made his remarks, happened to be
restored, in this place, by a leaf of the second Dutch edition ; (for
ve know that neither of the two copies of the first Dutch edition,
at Harlem, are complete*) in which case the circumstance may
easily be accounted for ; since it is very possible that the block
might not have suffered this small fracture until after the whole of
the impressions from it, for " the second Latin edition," and part of
those for " the second Dutch edition/' had been taken off. The
fracture, after all, is so small, that in case the impression in the
first Dutch edition happened to be smeared in that part, it might
easily escape tiie observation of any but a most scrutinizing eye.

Query 4. — In the impression of the Tenth Cut, one of the perpen-
dicular lines, in IJie base of the pilaster on the right hand, is want-
ing in the Jirst Latin edition, thus :

Is this line wanting in the secottd Latin bhA Jirst Dutch editions ?

Answer. — " In the base of the column at the right, the part of the
" line marked with points, is complete in the second Latin," thus :

" but open in the^rs( Dutch edition."

* See Meennan, " Origmes," torn. i. '* I<l£e G&tinle," p. 454.
p, 117. note ( b X ) and HdnekcD,

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 213

Query 5. In the right hand compartment of the cut. No. 1%
a part of the perpendicular line of a tower, therein represented, is
wanting in tbe^rst Latin edition ; thus ;

Is that part of the said line wanting in the second Latin and ^rst
Dutch editions ?

Answer. — " The part of the perpendicular line of the tower,
'* marked with points, is complete in the second Latin edition," thus :

■ but open in theirs* Dutch edition."

■,

414 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi.

Query 6. In the same cut, the chief part of one of the perpen-
dicular lines of the base of the pilaster on the right, is wanting in the
second Dutch Budjirst Latin editions ; thus :

Is this line wanting in the Jirst Dutch and second Latin editions ?

Answer. — ^' The part of the line, marked with dots, is complete
" in both the editions/*

The answers given by my correspondent to the third and sixth
queries, would, when taken together, constitute most satisfactory evi-
dence that the edition of the Speculum, called *^ the second Latin,''
is in reality the first edition of the book ; were it not that he asserts,
that the small pieces of lines, referred to in these queries as wanting in
" the second Dutch'* and " first Latin editions," are perfect in both the
other editions — ^a circumstance, which, in the present instance espe-
cially, is calculated to create some doubt of his accuracy : since it is
absolutely impossible that the impression of the piece of the block,
referred to in the sixth query, (which we know with certainty was
broken away before the part of the line of the tower, in the same cut,
was fractured) should be found complete in an impression taken from
the block after the line of the tower had been broken. Either my
correspondent, when he wrote the answer to this question, did not
exercise his usual accuracy, or he must have been led into error
from the circumstance of this line's happening to have been restored
in the Dutch copy by a pen.

Upon the whole, it appears certain, as well from the answers given
to the above queries, (especially the 1st, the 4th, and the 5th,) as from
our previous investigation, that the two most ancient editions of the
Speculum, are '* the second Latin" and " the second Dutch editions,"
as they are called ; and not those whose rudeness of impression has
occasioned every previous bibliographical writer to ascribe priority
to them.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 215

The SECOND Latin edition, as it has been hitherto improperly
called, was, I am well persuaded, the first edftion of the
BOOK ; not only because of the reasons just now given, but, also,
because it is evident, from the Latin inscriptions under the cuts, that
the proprietor of the work first meditated an edition in that lan-
guage. The text in this edition appears to have been entirely
printed with the same type which was afterwards used for the
whole of " the second Dutch edition," as it is called, except two
pages ; and also for forty-three pages of the edition called '' the first
Latin."*

The edition commonly called '' the second Dutch edition" was
probably commenced soon after the above : in this edition, as has
been just observed, there are two pages printed with a type con-
siderably difierent from the rest

Of the two remaining ancient editions of the Speculum,
hitherto called ** the first Latin," and " the first Dutch," I know
not to which to ascribe the priority. Nor can I speak with
accuracy as to the characters with which the edition last
named was printed, further than that they were moveable types.
The observations of Meerman, as to the marks made in the paper in
many places, by the blank type used by the printer, instead of plain
pieces of wood or metal, to fill up those spaces in the pages which
were intended to be left white, — ^whether for the future insertion of
initial letters, or at the termination of sentences — ^are decisive as to
that point ; and clearly prove that there is no ground for the suppo-
sition of M. Daunou (Lambinet. tom. i. p. 323) that this edition is
entirely xylographic. The Latin copy before me exhibits several

* Indeed Meerman, when speaking of
the form of the characters^ in the four first
editions of the Speculum^ (Origines^ torn. i.
iq>. 108, 109) Mys : '' In omnibus vero qua-
** tnor editionibos (si qoaedam folia princiiHs
'' Latinae^ fixo charactere excusa> ezcepero)
** unius ejusdemque semper figurae est|
^ neque nin magnitudine et nitore aliquan-

tulum d'lspar, imo in postrema turn Belgica
** turn Latina editione mihi videtur ipsissi*
** mus.** Meermun had not seen die edition
called '^ the first Latb," which was described
to him by Fournier. It is certainly printed
with the same type as ** the second Latin**
and ** second Dutch editions."

216 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

instances of the kind in those pages which are printed with more-
able type ; and traces of a similar effect are to be discovered in some
parts of Lord Spencer's Dutch copy ; although with difficulty — ^in
consequence of the great pressure which, perhaps accompanied by
damp, appears, upon some former occasion, to have been applied to
it, by the book-binder. Were I to judge from the engraving given
by Meerman of the first cut, and the accompanying text of the
page, copied from the edition which he terms *' the first Dutch,'*
I should feel little hesitation in judging it to have been printed
with the same type as the other three editions ; although, perhaps,
with less neatness and care, and with ink of an inferior quality.
For the variations of form and dimensions* discoverable in different
specimens of the same letters in the engraved copy (variations
which, no doubt, exist in the original in a smaller degree) are
easily to be accounted for, when it is remembered that Meerman
believed the work to have been printed with carved wooden cha-
racters; and that his draftsman. Van Noorde, and the engraver,
A. I. Polack, being so instructed, would naturally, in making their
copy, be inclined to augment the almost imperceptible or equivocal
variations of the original into decided differences.

Meerman, however, mentions one circumstance which might
lead to the supposition that the type with which this edition was
printed, was not identically the same as was used for the other
editions. The type in this edition, he informs us, (tom. i. p. 120)
is somewhat smaller than that of the edition which he styles *' the
second Dutch;" for that twenty lines of text in the former, occupy
only the same space as nineteen lines in the latter edition. It is, there-
fore, possible that the edition called " the first Dutch," may have been
printed with a type cast in imitation of the type used for the other
editions, in consequence of the original type having been worn out
or lost before that edition was required.

This diversity in the type of the edition called " the first Dutch,"
were it ascertained, would justify us in considering that edition as the
last of the four ; and would, consequently, enable us to arrange the

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUM ANAE SALVATIONIS. 217

four early editions of the Speculum^ in the order in which they
were published. For, from the evidence which has been brought
forward^ it is certain that the two editions of the work, hitherto
believed to be the third and fourth, are, in reality, the first and
second ; and there is, also, as has been said, every reason to believe
that the edition called ^' the second Latin'' was the first of those two.
Upon the whole, we cannot be far wrung in placing the four editions
in the following order. The only doubt can be, which of the two
last was the third published.

First, The edition hitherto called " the second Latin."

Second, That called " the second Dutch edition."

Third, That called « the first Latin edition."

Fourth, That called by Meerman '' the first Dutch edition."

The justness of this arrangement being admitted, it would not be
difficult for any one who should advocate the cause of Harlem, to
take up a formidable position, even upon the very basis of the
opinions and admissions of those who have argued on the other
side. For Heineken, whom most of the bibliographical writers
of the Mentz party refer to as their oracle in such matters^ has ex*
pressed the belief that the last but one of these four editions (the
first Latin) *' was printed just at the time of the invention of typo-
graphy ; "* and Daunou (whose modesty, in his admirable little trea-

*^' Cette quantity defeuillesimpriinies par siirement des graveurs i, leur service, et je

la prene,'' says Heineken, speaking of the edi- crois que ce graveur, 6tant devenu lui-mfiniie

tion which he calls the^r<^ Latin, (Idte G£o. imprimeur, a fiut h reste de Fouvrage avec

p. 447) '' et cette manike de poser une vignette des lettra de fonte nouvdiement inoent6e$,

A la t£te dtt discours, me portent i coajectorer, d'autant plus que ces caractires ressemblent

que le Speculum Salvationie est plus mo- enti^ment, pour la forme et pour le dessein,

deme que les livres pricidens,^ (the Biblia auz tables du Donat, et g6n£ralement auz

Patq^rum, the Jrs Moriendi, Sec. Sec.) caractires de I'attelier de Fau^ et de

^' et puhia juitement du tenu de Finoention Schoeffer/^ This last assertion of Heineken

de la typographies Je m'imagine que le is unfounded*-4be characters of the Spe-

graveur, qui a taill6 ces vingt tables de dis- culum do not resemble the type of Fust and

cours en bois, itoit un de ceuz que Guten- Schoeffer*
berg et Faust eroployerent; car ils avoient

2 F

218 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

tise given at the end of the first volume of Lambinet, is a corrective
of that writer's over confidence) observes (p. 421) that *' the Spe-
'^ culum Salutis, executed in part with wooden blocks^ and partly
" with cast type, is, perhaps, anterior to the year 1460 ;" adding,
however, (doubtless because he saw that the characters were those
of the Low Countries, and not of Germany) that, *' if, as Heineken
^* supposes, it was printed by one of the workmen of Gutenberg
^' or Fust, there is little reason to believe that that workman was
" established at Mentz."

Now, if in conformity to the opinions of these writers, we should
place the third edition of the Speculum (the first Latin) about
1455, and if it be, at the game time, admitted as probable, that an
avers^e period of a little more than seven years intervened between
each two editions, — ^the first edition of tiie book must, according to
such a calculation, have been printed about the year 1440 — ^which is
all that the writers on the side of Harlem contend for.

But as, on the one hand, it would be unfair to encumber the
cause of Lawrence Coster with all the absurdities which his zealous,
but indiscreet firiends have insisted upon in his behalf; so, on the
other, it would be injustice to Gutenberg, were we to take advan-
tage, to his detriment, of an opinion hazarded, perhaps incautiously,
by one or more of the advocates of his claims.

It will, therefore, be proper for us to inquire how far the internal
evidence of the four early editions of the Speculum (which, fi-om
the general conformity of their execution — ^the paper on which they
are printed — the resemblance of the type in all of them, and the
identity of that type, in three — ^there can be little doubt were
printed at the same press) may justify the two following con-
clusions— 1st, that they were printed in Holland ; and, 2dly, that
they are of higher antiquity than any of the books printed in that
country by those printers who are commonly said to have first in-
troduced printing into Holland, and are known to have established
themselves in different towns of that country, and other parts of
the Low Countries, after the year 1472. For if these two points

CHAP, III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 219

are established in the affirmatiye^ the onus of accounting for the
existence of these books, printed in Holland before, according to
the writers on the side of Gutenberg, the art of printing was there
known, will rest with that adverse party ; and they will be con-
strained, at length, to confess the probability that there is more
truth in the story of Coster, or Janszoon, than they have hitherto
been accustomed to acknowledge.

The first of these points it will not be difficult to establish. Any
person generally conversant with early printing, will, upon viewing
either of the four first editions of the Speculum, immediately pro-
nounce that it was printed, not in Germany, but in the Low
Countries :♦ upon a more close examination^ he will perceive that
the angular Gothic, and broad-faced characters of that work (to
use a technical expression) bear a much nearer resemblance to the
types commonly used in the fifteenth century in Holland, than to
those generally adopted by the chief printers of the more southern
parts of Belgium ; and if he have the opportunity of comparing a
sufficient number of the early printed books of Gouda, Utrecht,
and other towns of Holland, with those published contemporarily
at Louvain, and other parts of Brabant, he will not long hesitate to
declare that Holland has a better claim to the execution of the work
in question, than any other country.

To this it may be added, that firagments of books, printed with
the same type as. the Speculum, and others with type so like it, as
to render the distinguishing between one and the other a matter of
no small difficulty, have been discovered at Harlem, and in other
parts of Holland, pasted into the covers of ancient books ; and that
it is certain that the blocks fi-om which the cuts of the Speculum
were taken off, existed in Holland in 1483, in which year, John

* Beii^ little convenant in the types used also collect from them, as well as from aa

by the early printers, I have had recourse to ezamiDatioD of early books printed io dif-

the experience of my friends, Mr. Dibdm ferent towns of Holland and Brabant, that

and Mr. Douce; both of whom assure me I am well justified in the opinion which fol-

lliat I am warranted in my amrtion ; and I lows it.

2 F 2

220

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, iir

Veldener published, at Culenbourg, a new edition of the work, in
the Dutch language, containing the impressions of the same blocks ;
the whole printed in a quarto size, — ^Veldener having caused each
of the blocks to be sawed down the central pillar, into two pieces,
for that purpose.

Moreover, two out of the four earliest editions of this work, are
printed in the Dutch language, such as it was commonly spoken
in the fifteenth century, in that part of Belgium which is now
called Holland ; but which was never generally used in the more
southern provinces of the Netherlands, where the Flemish language
formerly prevailed, as it does at present.*

To all these arguments it may be added, that the paper-marks
found in the four earliest editions of the Speculum, do not occur in
books of the fifteenth century, printed in any part of Germany,
south or east of Cologne ; (if we except one mark which is found in
some of the books of SchoefFer, printed at Mentz) but, for the most
part, resemble those commonly found in the early printed books
of the Low Countries, and more especially in those of Holland ;
and that some of these marks occur, exclusively, in the books of
the early Dutch printers. Upon this point, however, the reader
may require evidence in support of my assertion, and he is, there--
fore, here presented with the tracings of these paper-marks (at least
all those which occur in the two copies of the book before me)
carefully made from the originals, and accompanied with the
authority of an eminent bibliographer, as to the ordinary occur-
rence of most of them in the earliest printed books of Holland and
Flanders.f

* This I say upon the authority of a gen-
tleman, to whom I have shewn the Dutch
Speculum, and who, having resided many
years at Utrecht, is thoroughly conversant
both with the Dutch and Flemish languages.

f Saniander, the writer in question, pro*
perly observes, ('' Supplement au Catalogue
«Ies livres de la Bibliotheque de M. C« de la

Sema Santander,*' Bvo. Bruxellei, 1 803,) that
although the paper-mark of a book can, of
itself, neither enable us to discover the name
of the printer nor the age of the book ; never-
theless, it may often lead us to well-founded
conjectures as to die place of its impression.
** En effet," says he, '' j'oserai bien affirmer
** qu^on peut connottre aussi augment par

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 221

The mark^ I., representing a singular kind of unicorn^ is the
only mark that is found on the paper of Lord Spencer's copy of
what is called ** the second Dutch edition/' from the heginning of the
work until the forty-fifth cut — (the first of the two pages that are
printed with type different from the rest of the volume) — during
which space it occurs twenty-four times ; hut it does not once
appear in the latter part of the book; nor is it to be found in
Mr. Singer's copy of what is termed " the first Latin edition." I
learn^ however, fi-om my correspondent in Holland, that this paper-
mark is found in the edition called ** the second Latin/' on the leaves
containing the cuts numbered 47. 48. 50. 52. 55. 56. and 57 ; and
that it occurs twice in what is called " the first Dutch edition ;" viz.
on the leaves containing the cuts numbered 20. and 22. Meerman,
in speaking of the different editions of the Speculum, mentions this
mark^ which, it is to be observed, does not occur among the paper-

** riiwpection du filigrane du papier que par
'^ la forme des caract^res d'un livre du quin-
*' zi^e si^le, s'il a it& imprimi en Italie,
'' en AUemagne, ou dans le Pays-Bas et la
^' HoUande; de manidre qu'ayant recours
*^ ensuite i quelques autrea indices Qrpogra-
*^ phiques, on parvient facilement i connottre
^ le lieu de son impression et quelquefois

'' rimprimeur mftme/' Had Santander ex-
amined the paper-marks in the different edi-
tions of the Speculum, he would not have
made the assertion alluded to at p. 109, that
Heineken had proved that this work, and all
the old block-books with figures engraved in
wood, were originally engraved and printed
in Germany.

222

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

marks collected together and published by Santander, in his " Sup-
** plement" to the catalogue of his library : — ^for the unicorn which
he has given in his second print, under No. 36, and which he tells
us, in his text, occurs in books printed at Cologn, by Ulric Zell,
Arnold Therhoernen, and Job. Guldenschaff ; and in others printed
at Alost, by Theod. Martens, and by Joh. of Westphalia, at Lou-
vain, is so very unlike the figure before us, especially in the tail of
the animal, that I cannot but consider it the paper-mark of a
different manufacture.

The mark, IL, occurs, with slight variations, (being sometimes
without the cross at top,) in Mr. Srager's copy of " the first Latin
edition," on the leaves containing the cuts numbered 2. 10. 14. 19.
and 41. It is represented. No. 89^ in the third print in Santander's
" Supplement,*' above-mentioned, among the paper-marks which he
ascribes exclusively to Holland. It is found, he tells us, in books
printed at Utrecht, by Nic. Ketelaer and Ger. de Leempt. This mark

CHAP, inj SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

223

and the following are, it is probably the two marks of which Meer-
man says it is difficult to give a description.*

The mark, III., which bears so near a resemblance to the last
mentioned, as to give reason to suppose that it was used by the same
manufacturer, is not introduced in Santander's work. It occurs in the
edition of the Speculum called '^ the first Latin,'' on the leaves con*
taining the cuts numbered 18. 20. 34 29.^36. 37. 38. 39. and 56.

The mark, IV., occurs once only in the first Latin edition, on the
leaf containing the cut No. 53. A mark a good deal resembUng it,
it appears fi*om Santander, (second print. No. 31, of the before men-
tioned work,) is found in books printed at Cologn, by Ulric Zell,
Arnold Therhoemen, and J. Guldenschaff ; in otliers, printed at
Louvain, by Joh. of Westphalia and Conrad Braen ; in others, printed
at Bruxelles, by the Fratres Communis Vitse ; and also in books
printed at Deventer, by R. Paffioed.

* '^ In prindpe editione Belgica^" (says
Meerman in a note, torn. i. p. 102, of his
** Ori^nesy*^ '^ chartarii signum plerumque
'' bubulom caput, uno loco rosam exprimit.
'' In altera (meo certe exemplo) plenunque
** onicorau, semel bovinum caput, aliaque
'' etiam duo signa, quae vix describi possnnt,
'' in folio autem singulari, ac diversi typi,
** figure anchoree conspicitur. In priori edi-

" done Latina, Foumierio, p. 153, teste,
** idem apparet caput ; at in altera observavi
** plerumque anchorem,quandoqueunicomu.''
Meerman, however, was of the opinion, pre-
valent when he wrote, that no satbfactory
inference could be drawn from the paper-
marks of old books, and, consequently, is less
particular upon this point than it b probable
he otherwise would have been.

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi.

The marks V. and V*. can only be termed varieties of the same
paper-mark. The mark V. occurs in the preface of the first Latin
edition. V*. is found in the second Dutch edition on the leaves
containing the cuts numbered 50. and 52.

This mark appears to be of ffequent occurrence in books of the
Low Countries. It is given by Santander^ with small variations, under
the Nos. 53, 34. 41 . 42. 44. 6% 62. 66. 68. 78. 80. and 81 .; and is found,
he tells us, in books printed at Cologn, by Ulric Zell> Arnold Ther-
hoemen, Joh, Koelhoff, Conrad de Hoemborch. and Henry Quenteli ;
in others, printed at Louvajn, by John de Westphalia and Conrad
Braen ; in others, printed at Bruxelles, by the Fratres Communis Vitse ;
in others, printed at Alc^t, by Theod. Martens, and at Antwerp by
Theod. Martens ; also in books printed at Gouda, by Ger. Leeu ; at
Utrecht, by Nic. Ketelaer and Ger. de Leempt ; and atDeventer, by
R. Paffiroed. It is also found, Santander informs us, though of some-
what smaller dimensions; io books printed at Paris, by Ulric Gering.

The mark VI., which nearly resembles the last-mentioned paper-
mark, except that it wants the flower at top, occurs in the edition

CHAP. Ill] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

225

called ^' the second Dutch/' on the leaves containing the cuts
numhered 53 and 55.

It is given^ with small variations, in Santander, under the num-
bers 40. 65. and 67 ; and is, he says, found in books printed at
Cologne, by Ulric Zell, Arnold Therhoernen, Conrad de Hoem-
borch, John Guldenschaff, Job. Koelhoff, and Hen. Quentell; in
others, printed at Lou vain by John of Westphalia ; at Bruxelles, by
the Fratres Communis Vitce ; and at Antwerp, by Theod. Martens.
It occurs, also, of smaller dimensions (as given by him under No. 93)
in books printed at Deventer by R. Paffiroed.

The paper-mark VII., representing aii anchor, occurs in the edition
called ** the first Latin,'' on the leaves containing the cuts, Nos. 11 . 12,
31. 47. 49. and 51., and is one of the marks mentioned by Meerman.
It is remarkable that it is the only paper-mark found in Lord Spen-
cer's copy of ''the Book of Canticles ;" where, however, it appears of
somewhat smaller dimensions. Santander gives this mark, in his
work above cited, under No. 51. It occurs, he tells us, in books
printed at Cologne, by Ulric Zell, and Bart, de Unkel ; in others,
printed at Lou vain, by Conrad Braen and John Veldener ; and, also,
in books printed at Utrecht, by Nic. Ketelaer and Ger. de Leempt

The f Ae de hoeuf, VIIL, occurs in '* the first Latm edition/' on the

2 o .

226 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

leaves containing the cuts numbered 7. 17. S2. 27. and 55. The other,
VI II.* is found, in " the second Dutch edition," in the leaves contain-
ing the cuts numbered 47 and 57 : they can hardly be termed dis*
tinct marks, although there is some small difference in their form.

The Ute de tetif with a star like this, supported by a simple up-
right line rising from between the horns of the animal, is given by
Santander under the numbers 1. 32. 48. 64. 70. 83. and 85. with
more or less variety in the shape of the animal's head ; and is said
by him to occur in books printed at Mentz, by Schoeffer; at
Cologne, by Ulric Zell, Joh. Koelhoif, Conrad de Hoemborch,
Arnold Therhoemen, and Hen. Quentell ; also in books printed at
Louvain, by John of Westphalia, and Conrad Braen ; in others,
printed at Bruxelles, by the Fratres Communis Vitse ; and in others,
printed at Utrecht, by Nic. Ketelaer and Ger. de Leempt In
short, however great the varieties of the tite de hauf^ and however
general its use as a paper-mark in the fifteenth century, it does not
appear to occur, in books of the fifteenth century, with the simple
ornament of a star made by cross lines, supported on an upright
line, as in the above fac-similes, except in such as were printed at
Mentz, (by Schoeffer,) at Cologne, or in the Low Countries.

It is worthy of observation, that the tite de bctuf, IX., occurs but
once in the copy before us of ** the second Dutch edition/* as it is

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS,

227

called ; and that it happens to be upon the leaf containing the cut
No. 45 — the first of the two pages which^ as has been before said,
are printed with type different from the rest. This curious circum*
stance seems to warrant the conjecture, that this edition, having been
left incomplete in these two pages by one printer, was, some time
afterwards, finished by another. It is also remarkable that this Utc
de bmf^ with the upright line between the horns, crossed only by one
simple line, was found by Santander, (who has given it, No. 91 of
the before-mentioned,} in books printed in Holland only : viz. in
those printed at Utrecht by Nic. Ketelaer and Ger. de Leempt*

The conclusion to be drawn firom this combination of evidence
is decisive as to the country in which the earliest editions of the
Speculum Salvationis were printed. They were, without doubt,
executed in Holland ; and so far, therefore, the result of our enquiry
does not militate against the assertions of Junius.

* Since wridog the above, I have had die
opportaDity of ezaminiog aeireral books of the
fifteeoth ceDtuiy, printed m Holland and other
parts of the Low Countries, in the valuable
library of Mr* Douce. The anchor, No. 7,
occurs more frequently than any other paper-
mark, in a folio of Veidener, printed at
Louvain. — In another foHo, printed by Ger»
Leeu, at Gouda, b 1481, the marks Nos. 5*
and 6f are of frequent occurrence; and in
'' Raymond de Sabundia,'^ printed at Deventer
by 22. Pqffrotd without date, but supposed,
in the Daventr, Ultutr* according to Fisser,
to have been printed previous to ]477> the
paper-marks of most ordinary occurrence are
those numbered 4. 5. and 6. Now we have
seen that all such of die paper-marks that
occur in the Speculum, as are described in
Santander, are found in books of the fifteenth
century, printed in Holland ; and that two of
them, viz. 2 and 9y are found in books printed
in Holland only; and there is, therefore,

2 G

upon the whole, good reason to consider
the paper-marks found in the different edi-
tions of the Speculum, as more especially
appertaining to Holland than to the more
southern parts of Belgium. I will not omit
to add, that the book last mentioned, and
another, which I saw upqn the same occa-
sion, also printed by Pi^oed, do nothing
towards confirming the observation of Fischer,
mentioned in a note at pp. ISQ, 190, that
the type of the Speculum resembles that,
or rather is the same, used by R. Paffroed
at Deventer. It is possible that this printer,
like numy others of the early Dutch printers,
may sometimes have used a broad-fiM^ed
Gothic letter, a good deal resembling that of
die Speculum — for the present I must be
allowed to consider M. Fischer's assertion, as
no other than oac of diose hasty observations,
hazarded by memory, which the person who
writes them is so often, at a future period,
obliged to retract

228

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, iil

This fact being established, we are, in the second place, to enquire
what arguments can be produced in proof of the antiquity of the
work ; whether such as may be drawn from the internal evidence of
the book itself, or deduced from a comparison of it with other ancient
volumes. Heineken, we have seen, is of opinion, that the edi-
tion of the Speculum, which he calls '^ the first Latin," is at least
as early as 1457 — ^Daunou places it earlier than 1460 — and I am
unacquainted with any bibliographical writer who has not classed
it among the earliest specimens of the art of printing. If a jury
of twelve men, conversant in early typography, and unpre^
judiced as to the question in dispute, vwere to be called upon to
determine, whether or not this work is of at least equal antiquity with
the books ornamented vnth wood-cuts, printed at Bamberg, in 1463,
by Pfister, can any one doubt but that their answer to such a ques-»
tion would be in the affirmative ?* and yet it will be sufficient for the
purpose of shevnng that the claims of Harlem are not to be got rid of
so easily as the writers of the Mentz party have affected to suppose,
if it can be proved that either of the four first editions of the Spe-
culum was printed before 1472 ; because it is on all sides acknow-
ledged as an established fact, that the art of printing with cast type
was not practised in any part of the Low Countries (unless indeed
by Coster and his successors) previous to that year, or the year fol-
lowing, when it is said to have been introduced into Flanders by
John of Westphalia, and Theodore Martens.f

* My bibrK^raphical friends assure me
that I should certainly have a verdict upon
this simple question,

f It being ascertained that the Speculum
was printed in Holland, it becomes indeed
scarcely necessary to prove its existence so
far back as 1472, in order to disconcert the
system of the writers of the Mentz party.
A book, entitled '' Tondalus Visionen''—
ghepreni f AnttDerpen be mi Mathys Fan
der Goes, bears date 1472 ; but this date is

considered spurious, upon the ground that
there is an interval of ten years between it
and the next dated book of the same printer.
(Vide Lambinetf torn. ii. p. £51.) The date
of 1473, on the '' Secunda Pars' Hystorie
" Scolastice," 8cc. — Impretsa in trajeclo in-
feriori, per nuigistros Nycholaum Ketdaer
et Gkerardum de Leempt, does not appear
to be doubted ; (Lambinei, torn. ii. p. 87.)
but it may admit of a question, whether or
not it was printed, as is supposed, at Utrecht.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. SS9

But notwithstanding the world appears to be so fiur agreed upon
this matter, that there is perhaps no person conversant with typo*
graphical antiquities who would hesitate to declare his belief that
one at least of the four first editions of this work is anterior to. the
year 1472, still I am not prepared to offer positive proof that such
is the case.

Next, however, to the demonstration which results from positive
proof, we may class the conviction which is the consequence of that
combination of small details, each corroborative of the other, and
all <^ them pointing towards and authorizing one and the same
conclusion, which is termed circumstantial evidence. Many facts

The exiBitence of die '' Jacobi de Vorag^iie
*^ de Guide L^eade,'' said to have been
printed at Gouda^ in 1473, by Gheraert
Leeu, is very doubtful, {Fisser*B Catalogue at
the end of Janson^n book '' de Tlnvention
'' de rimprimerie,'' p. 240,) and he in
thought not to have printed any book in that
city until 1476 or 1477. {Lambinet, torn. ii.
p. 262, and Fisser, p. 245.) The dates of
One or two other books, purporting to have
been printed in Holland in the years 1472
and 147 Sy . are considered spurious. Under
the year 1474, Fisser mentions no certain
book printed in Holland — under 1475, but
one — said to have been printed at Deventer,
but without the printer's name — under 1476,
he speaks of one book, $uppo$ed to have be^i
printed near Gouda, and of another print-
ed at Deventer; but both without printers'
names. Under the year 1477, mention is
made of the first book printed at Deventer,
by R* Paflfiroed : and also of the two first
dated books printed at Delft, llie books
printed at Gouda and Delft are from this
period suiBciently numerous. In the year
]479> ve find John Veldener (Hinting at
Utrecht, where he established himself about

that time ; and, under the same.year, mentioa
is made of the first dated books printed at
ZwoU. In the year 1483, mention, for the
first time, occurs of a dated book printed at
Harlem : this book, however, seems of doubt-
ful existence. In the same year, Veldener
printed the^^A edition of the Speculum at
the town of Culenbourg, as has been said
— and also a sixth edition of the same work,
with augmentations-— likewise a book with
cuts firom the Bible, with verses under each
print. We find no book^ with a date, printed
at Leyden before this year. In 1484, and

^ the year following, we read of a few dated
books, printed at Harlem ; but we find no
mention of any printed at Amsterdam during
the fifteenth century.

Upon the whole, the number of dated
books upon record, printed in Holland, pre-
vious to the year 1477, is so small, and
those few are so doubtful, that it can hardly
be affirmed, with certainty, diat the. item
$c1ukA of printing (if I may be aUowed the
expression) was established in Holland before
diat period. This argument is strongly in-
sisted upon by Meerman, ** Origines," torn. ii.

. p. 218, note (h).

23a SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi*

from their very nature, are incapable of being ascertained by any
other means ; and the moral certitude acquired by this sort of testis*
mony is, in some cases, so complete, as to leave little cause of regret
that that kind of evidence, which can alone with propriety be termed
prooi^ was wanting.

The present is, I think, one of these cases, and I trust the cir-
cumstances which I am now about to state, with as much brevity
as possible, will be admitted as constituting togeth^ very ample
ground for the conclusion that the four first editions of the Specu-
lum Salvationis were executed previous to the year 1472 above
specified.

In the first place, I must call the reader's attention to the remarks
offered, in various parts of this chapter,* upon the resemblance of
style observable in the execution of many of the wood-cuts of the
three works which have been described — ^* the BibUa Pauperum,'*
'^ the Book of Canticles,'* and the work still under consideration;
a resemblance in many instances so striking, as to leave, in my
opinion, no doubt that the same wood-engravers were employed
upon all the three works in question. Several of the cuts in the
Speculum, as has been said, appear to have been executed by the
same hand that executed many of those in the '' Biblia Pauperum ;"
others bear evident marks of having been engraved by the same
workman who cut many of those in " the Book of Canticles." Nor
is the resemblance as to the executive part of the work, or what
we may term the handling of the graver, less apparent between
many of the cuts of the " Biblia Pauperum," and several of those
in " the Book of Canticles ; " although the artist, who made the
designs for the former of those works, appears to have been a
different person from the one employed to design the latter. For
example, if the reader has an opportunity of examining the 9th, 1 1th,
15th, 16th, 23d, 24th, 31st, 32d, 37th, and 38th cuts of the « Biblia
" Pauperum," (of the edition possessed by Lord Spencer,) and of

• See pp. 14i. 155. 158. 162. 165. and 169.

CHAP, in.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 231

comparing them with the Ist, Sad^ 11th, 14th, and I6th pages of the
edition of " the Book of Canticles/' from which specimens have
been given, he will find in the trees, represented in all of them, that
peculiarity of touch in the mode of executing the foliage, (well ex-
pressed by the vulgar term hiack) which can alone be accounted for
by the supposition that they were in reality engraved by the same
hand. If these, again, are compared with the cuts of the Speculum,
described under Nos. 10. 12. 17. 28. 29. 30. 35. and 36., the same
workmanship will be identified ; . insomilch that we are fiiUy justified
in the conclusion that the three works in question were executed in
the work-shop of the same master wood-engraver ; with the ex*
ception, as has been said, of the latter cuts of the Speculum, which
are engraved in a different style from all the rest

This being ascertained, it is evident, that if the antiquity of one
of these works could be established, it would, in a considerable
degree, serve us as a guide by which to form some judgment of the
antiquity of the others. For, although the same artist may not
unreasonably be supposed to have continued the practice of wood
engraving even for more than twenty years, he can hardly be sup-
posed to have maintained, during so long a period, the exact same
style of execution ; for, if we examine the productions executed
by artists who are known, we shall find that a very sensible altera-
tion, in their manner of working, took place, during even a shorter
period; and oflen that, were it not for the cyphers affixed to
their works, or the assistance we derive from the examination
of their intermediate productions, it would be impossible for us,
in a work executed by any artist at an early period of life, to dis-
cover that resemblance of style to one executed by the same per-
son twenty years aflerwards, as would enable us to ascertain its
author.

We cannot therefore, I think, place an interval of more than ten
or twelve years between the execution of the engravings of the three
works in question : and, as it has been shewn that there is no ground
for the belief that the cuts of the Speculum were ever intended to be

232 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, in.

published separately from the text, it follows, that we cannot date the
first edition of that work more than from ten to twelve years later
than the '' Biblia Pauperum ;'' which, from the greater rudeness of
its style^ we are justified in considering somewhat more ancient than
the Speculum or " the Book of Canticles ;*' but which, .notwith-
standing, may not have preceded the others by so long a period
as we have supposed. The cuts of '' the Book of Canticles'' appear
to have no pretensions to a higher antiquity than the greater part
of those of the Speculum, and it is probable that the engravings of
those two works were in hand at the same time. The engravings
of " the Book of Canticles,'' however, being few in number, appear
to have been completed in the workshop of the master-artist who
had commenced the work, whereas the latter cuts of the Speculum,
as has been said, were executed by a different hand ; perhaps in
consequence of the original artist having died before he had com-
pleted that more extensive undertaking.*

This circumstance renders it probable that a small interval of
time elapsed between the publication of ^' the Book of Canticles" and
the first publication of the Speculum : I say but a small interval,
because it is reasonable to suppose that the person for whom the
engravings of the Speculum were made was employed in prepara-
tions for the text whilst the execution of the cuts was in process ;
and that he printed the text at the bottom of some of the cuts whilst
the others were in hand.

If the correctness of Mr. Horn, as to the date upon the original
binding of a copy of the ^ Biblia Pauperum,'- formerly in his pos-
session,-|» be admitted ; and if we could be certain that the edition
of that work, so bound, was the same as that of which we have
been speakings or as that in the Bodleian library, we should then
be justified in boldly placing the publication of that work at least
a few years previous to 1430; and, consequently, according to the
above premises, be entitled to place the first edition of the Speculum

* See pp. 155, 156. f See note, p. 99*

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIST

233

a little previous to the year 1440,* which is all that the defenders
of Junius contend for. Such a chronology would perhaps be not
far from the truth, and appears indeed to be necessary, if the story
of Coster is to be insisted on. All, however, that I have at present
Undertaken to effect, is to shew good grounds for the belief that
the first edition of the Speculum was printed previous to th^ yeaif
1472.

I would then, in furtherance of my present object, offer the
following remarks : that there is every reason to suppose that the
first editions of the '^ Biblia Pauperum" were those printed from
wooden blocks in the Latin language-~that the one, of which we
have given specimens, appears on every account to have at least as
good claims to priority as any of the other three,f and tlmt the
circumstance of its having been engraved by the same artists who
engraved the original edition of •* the Book of Canticles,'* is in favor
of its originality — ^and, lastly, that there can be no doubt that the
augmented Latin edition, termed by Heineken the ^fth^ is of a
much later date4

* It 18 wordiy of remark, that the edidon
of the Speculum which we have shewn to be
the FIRST, viz. that commonly called ** the
second Latin^'' was formerly considered to
be so. Heineken makes the observation
^' Id^ Ginink,** p. 449. '' On donna,"
tnys he, ** an commencement i Harlem cette
'' Edition pour hi premiere, et ce n'est que
** depuis quelque tems qu'on a chang6 de
'' sentimeut" The ancient belief, founded,
perhaps, on tradition, was therefore the true
one. It is further worth obsen^g that the
copy of this edition, which is preserved at
Harlem, made part of the contents of an
old chest of books which was purchased by
the government of that cit^ in the middle of
the seventeenth century ; and which, accord-

ing to Meerman, *^ Qrigines,'' tom. i. p. 117,
had, for a very long period, appertained to
the family of Coster himself. I shall not
insist on the authenticity of the printed in-
scription found in this copy, ** Ex Officina
LaurenHi JoannU Costerif Anno 1440^—
but I submit that the circumstance of itp
havbg been anciently bound in the same
volume with the first edition of *^ the Book
of Canticles," is not a litde corroborative of
the opinion given in the text, that the first
editions of those two works were published
at nearly the same time, and at the same
phice.

t See pp. 129, 130.

% See p. 131.

«34 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. in.

' If it be admitted, that the first editions of the Biblia Pauperum
were in the Latin tongue, (and I think Heineken's argument that
books of this kind were at first printed in their original language
is incontrovertible) it follows, that as the German translation was
printed at Bamberg,* by Pfister, in 1461, the Latin editions, or at
least the first of those editions, must have been published some time
before that period ; and in truth there appears every reason to ascribe
to some of them a much higher antiquity.

Of the Book of Canticles, it has been already observed that,
besides the two editions of that work described by Hdneken, Lam-
binet and Daunou mention a third edition,*}* a copy of whidi is
preserved in the royal library at Paris. *' This edition," says Lam-*
binet, ^* is much later than the others. The text is printed on both
" sides of the paper, and bears the date 1470. The figures,*' he adds^

appear more ancient than that epoch.'" Daunou, also, styles it

a posterior edition ;" and there can be no doubt that such is the
case : indeed the figures in the original edition of the Book of Can-
ticles, bear so near a resemblance to the style of Van Eyck, as to
justify the belief that they are full twenty or thirty years more
ancient than the above epocL^

But the supposition that this work is of so high an antiquity, is
not necessary to our present purpose : it will suffice, if it be ad-
mitted (and this cannot well be denied) that the first edition of " the
Book of Canticles" was printed only a few years before the third
edition. For were we to place the first edition of the work no

€€

£4

• See p. 135.

f See p. 141.

i I have now before me a print engraved by
Com. Van Noorde, and published by En-
achedins, at Harlem, in 1769, from a picture
of Van Eyck, bearing date 1437* It repre-
sents a young female Saint, seated on the
groimd, reading. She has the palm of mar-

tyrdom in her hand, and behind her are work-
men employed in building the magnificent
steeple of a church. The little figures of the
workmen preparing the masonry under a shed
adjoining the building, bear considerable
resemblance to the small figures in the
back-ground of the first cut of the Book of
Canticles.

CHAP. iii-I SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. 235

earlier than 1465, and admit that five years elapsed between that
publication and the first publication of the Speculum, which is a
longer interval than there is any reason to suppose really took place
between them, the Speculum must then have been published in
the year 1470 — ^that is, two or three years before the first dated
books printed in any part of the Low Countries ; which is all that
we have, at present, undertaken to establish.

The mode in which the typographifcal part of the Speculum is
executed in the four first editions of that work, furnishes further
evidence of its antiquity, as will presently be more fully shewn.
It is not credible that John of Westphalia, Theodore Martens, John
Veldener, Ger. Leeu, or any of the printers of the fifbsenth cen-
tury, who are said to have introduced the art of printing into
Flanders and Holland, in its mature and perfect state, should have
departed from their usual method of typography in the execu-
tion of the editions in question. All the numerous books, with
wood-cuts, published during the last twenty-eight years of the
fifteenth century by these printers, of which we have any ac-
count, are executed in the usual way; the cuts, like the text,
being printed on both sides of the paper, with black printing-ink
and a press.

Still less can it be believed that one of these persons, supposing
him to have printed the first edition of the Speculum (commonly
called the second Latin edition) should afterwards have com-
pleted two pages of the second edition of the work (the second
Dutch, as it is called) with an old worn out and battered type,
unlike the rest, and wholly unfit for use ; — ^tiiat, after having printed
this edition in the Dutch language, he should have published a
second edition in Latin, partly printed vdth cast type, and partly with
wooden blocks ; and lastiy, that he should have put forth another
Dutch edition, printed, if we can judge from Meerman's account
of it, with a worse tjrpe than the former, and inferior ink. It
will suffice to call the reader's attention to one additional cir^

2 H 2

236 SPECULUM HUMAN AE SALVATIONIS; [chap. hi.

cumstance^ ill order to convince him of the extreme improbability^
I might almost say impossibility, that either of the four early edi-
tions of the Speculum should have been printed by any one of
the printers above alluded to. Upon an examination of the margins
of the printed columns of text, in both the prose editions of the
work, (the Dutch) he will discover that the printer, when he set
up the type, was wholly unacquainted with the art of spacing
out the vacancies between the words, as it is technically called,
by means of small blank pieces of metal of different thicknesses,
so as to make the lines of an equal length : in consequence of
which, the right-hand edge of each column has a ragged and
uneven appearance ; a defect in the setting of the types never to be
founds as I am informed, except in books printed in the very
infancy of the art,*

There is, therefore, upon the whole, abundant evidence to
shew : Jirst — that the original edition of the Speculum was
PRINTED IN Holland ; and, secondly — ^that it was printed before
the YEAR 1472: and it will, consequently, remain for those who
shall still withhold their assent to the testimony of Junius, to account

* The library of my friend, Mr. Douce,
being eminently rich in the early printed
books of the Low Countries, I requested
him to have the goodness to let me know
whether the same inequalities in the length of
the lines, which I noticed in the Dutch Spe-
culum, were to be found in any of them. —
Mr. Douce informs me, in answer, '* that
he has examined all the early books which he
possesses, printed in the Low Countries,
and that all of them have the edges of the
type perfectly even, according to the rules of
good press-work ; and not with chasms like
the Speculum, which,'* he observes, ** cer-
tainly indicate printing in its earliest and
rudest state.** The Bible supposed to have

been printed by Gutenberg, and the Psalter
of 1457, have also, I learn from Mr. Dib«
din, the edges of the type perfectly in re-
gister. It is to be observed, that the printed
columns of the Speculum are all of them
very well in register on the left margin —
so that the defect mentioned in the text,
cannot be ascribed to the printer's want
of care or accuracy ; but is only to be ac-
counted for by the supposition, that the
improved method of spacing out the lines so
as to make them of an equal length, had not
yet been thought of when the book was
printed, or at least that it was entirely un-
known to the printer of the Speculum.

CHAP, in.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS- 237

for the existence of a work, of which we have four ancient editions,
neither^ of them capable of being classed amongst ancient books
printed in Gennany, nor among the productions of those printers
who practised the art of typography in various parts of the Low
Countries, after the example of Theodore Martens and John of
Westphalia. This they will probably find no easy task ; and, at all
events, they will not be able to accomplish it without admitting
the fallacy of so many of their former opinions and doctrines, that
it were as creditable for them to give up the point at once, or at
least to acknowledge that, after all, there may be more foundation
for the story of Laurence Coster than they were aware of.

It has already been stated that, except twenty pages of the text,
in one of the Latin editions,* the four early editions of the Spe-
culum were printed with moveable characters ; that, in three of the
editions, the type is identically the same, and that it is cast type.
But although this last-mentioned fact, I hesitate not to say, is
certain, there have been, notwithstanding, so many contradictory
opinions respecting the type of the Speculum, that it cannot be
termed unt^ontroverted. I therefore think it necessary to offer a
few remarks on the subject ; and that they may be rendered more
intelligible to the reader, I prefix a fac-simile, shewing the nu«
merous pieces that type is composed of; which have been col-
lected together with no small pains, during a frequent examination
of the text in the Wo editions called ^' the second Dutch," and
" the first Latin."t

It would be, perhaps, improper to term this a fac-simile of the
printer's alphabet; since by far the greater number of the pieces
represented, are either double letters, or accompanied by marks

* Tlie pages of the '' first Latin edition,^ 9,1.22. 26. 27. 46. and 55.

as it is called, which are printed from wooden *f I ^^^^ afterwards speak of the different

blocks, are those containing the cuts nombered type used, as before observed, in two pages

1 . 2. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1 1. IS. 14. 16. 17. of the edition called '^ the second Dutch.''

238 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALYATIONIS. [chap. hi.

of abbreviation, signifying that they stand for whole syllables,
or, in some cases, for entire words. I have been unable to dis-
cover a capital K, either in the Latin or the Dutch edition of the
work.

i^-<^ $ q' 4 i{ 9 $ $ (P*A t ) em tS tr t?ie f ri ri to

Any person conversant with printing, upon first viewing the
Speculum, naturally determines that, except the twenty pages of
block-printing so often noticed, in one of the Latin editions, it was
printed with cast metal type. Upon a more attentive examination
of a page, however, he discovers small, but yet, sometimes, very
evident variations of form in different specimens of the same
letter, which it appears difficult to account for : he finds, perhaps,
by measurement, that the same word, although spelt exactly in the
same manner, does not always occupy exactly the same space ; and
he is induced to hesitate as to the correctness of his first judgment :
if not, indeed, to abandon it entirely, as not bearing the test of
scrutiny. In the latter case, he either attaches himself to those
who, like Foumier and Meerman, considered the Speculum to have
been printed with separate characters, carved in wood ; or is obliged
to conclude, that the type used for the occasion was prepared by the

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

239

painful and tedious op^^tion of cutting each individual character,
on a separate piece of metal, by the hand.*

Having embraced either of these two opinions, he finds, in the
work before him, ample cause for his admiration of the invincible
patience, the skill, and the exactness of the artist, who could sue*

* Meennan, htterlj^ thought of 9 third
n^tlKxI, III wkkh be ssppoeed the shafb of
ihB ^Ml to hsoAi bten.cts^ aod, ibe ktteif
to' h^ve beoB cut' hj the hand. *** O'rigines,*
tjom. Jii. -p. Si* fib 0M$ noC %o#e^eif; Ip-
fi^ar^ Iivre»a«|rlbed;lhi8 mfttfaad Ml Co«$er,.
"hot to the first -M^ntz printers ; so that my*
Aofey .al p; l97y Wy oequire oDrractigp.^ I.'
\9^ led into the ervor by a n^pplicatran
of ' the following*' passage in Hebfeken^
'' Idfe Git^nk,*" pp. Sld-<A. note' (b)
'' Plusieurs auteura," says Heineken, '^ ont
'' compris enfin rimpossibilit^ d'imprimer
'' avec des lettres mobiles de bois. Ik ont
^* done imaging un autre genre, pour ex*
^ pliquer Tin^galit^ des caractires dans ces
'^ livres dont nous parlons. lis ont produit
** ii cette fin des lettres mobiles, sculpt^es de
^ bronze. Mais par malheur elles ren«
'^ contrent encore plus de difficult^ que celles
** de bob ; outre que la matiire en est plus
*' dure, elles demandent encore un tems in-
<< fini i &tre sculpt6es. M. Meerman enfin,
*' poursanver quelqnes circonstances, 6tablies
'' par lui, pour prouver I'ezistence de Hm-
** primerie de Laurent Coster, a invent^ une
'' troisiime esp^e de lettres. II fiut fondre
** le corps dans des monies ou matrices, pour
'^ qu'elles deviennent ^ales, et ensuite il
'' fait tailler la lettre au bout i la main et au
'' couteau. Mais quand on est yenu jusqu'i
'' fondre le corps, il faut 6tre bien imb4-
'^ cille, pour ne pas fondre aussi la lettre*
^ Disons plut6t la v6rit£, d'autant plus qu'on

«r^

i:encontre mftme dans I^ Kyres lea plus iTf
liirefbeiit imprimis, * toiijours quelqnes
'^ marques^ (fA ificii^ ,h jknte (Jir IcMps^
*^ et avouons sinclrement, que tons les uvres
'^ mpriai^s, b sont^ ou avec des Mitles
*^ fix^ gravte sur b#is, 0f tfet des^e^gres
"de fonte.'^' I will not go'tjie length of
Qeineken, * in suppopng that aepar^e d^a-
i^ctifis of wQp4 "wefia never ufb^ injpriatijig^
because it is not pi'obable thatan opinion,
io pl-eiAent as l|iit|if tie apcieut uie of sQch
characters was, in the sixteenth century,
should have had no foundation. For letters
of considerable dimensions, such as the
larger characters of the Psalter of 1457^ they
might have been found to answer, and were,
perhaps, employed on account of the cheap-
ness of the material : the initial letters of that
volume were, it appears certain, printed in
that manner. But for the printing of text
of ordinary dimensions, like that of the Sp^
culum, separate wooden characters could
never have been applied with success.
The unsuccessful specimen of two or three
words printed in that manner in the first
volume of Meerman's work, is, of itsdf,
an answer to this pert of his system ; and
ought to have induced him to listen to his
friend Enschedius, the printer, who, as he
himself confesses, tom. ii. p. 225, insisted,
after repeated examinations, that all the edi«
tions of the Speculum, not even excepting
that which Meerman calk the first Dutch,
were printed with cast type.

»40 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. Ichap. hi.

ceed, not only in giving to the sculptured characters that general
uniformity of appearance, which at first occasioned him to consider
them as cast out of moulds, hut even so strict a resemblance be-
tween perhaps a dozen specimens of the same letter in the first six
line? of a page, as to baffle the exertions of the most correct eye to
detect any sensible difference between them : except such as must
necessarily occur even in the ordinary method of printing with cast
type; either in consequence of one letter happening to have
been more used and worn than another, more charged with
the printing ink, or, from an irregularity not unfrequent in or-
dinary press-work, forced deeper into the sur&ce of the paper
than the rest*

If, however, he turns from the page which he has been examining,
to one of those printed from a wooden block, he will be convinced,
by the comparison, that the uniformity of appearance which he
witnessed in the characters of the former, could not have been pro-
duced by means similar to those used in the execution of the latter :
for in the page printed from the engraved block, he will discover,
throughout, a sensible difference of form, as well as dimensions, be»
tween all the various repetitions of the same letter; and in the
capital letters, especially, he will find this difference so material, as
to render it easy for him to trace with a point the precise variations
of form by which, for example, each of a dozen letters, S, is to be
distinguished from all the others. And yet it cannot but occur to
him, that it must have been a task of less difficulty to preserve uni-
formity in the shapes and dimensions of the letters, in a page of text
engraved on a plain block of wood, which would have afforded the
artist not only the means of a constant comparison, but also a con-^
venient and steady rest for his hand during the operation of engrav-
ing, than it could have been to cut the numerous characters required
with so strict a resemblance to each other, on separate pieces of
wood or metal. His second opinion he will find, therefore, to be
subject to at least as many objections as his first one ; and, if he do

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. i4l

not carry his investigations further^ he must he satisfied to rest in
douht and uncertainty.

The first time I saw a copy of the Speculum, which chanced to
be of the edition cajled " the first Latin/' my own opinion under-
went, in rapid succession, the changes above described. From the
coup d'ceil of the first page of the preface, I was persuaded that it
was printed with cast type; but, my attention being called to a
more minute examination, I discovered a perceptible variation of
form, and even, as I thought, of dimension, in some of the repe-
titions of the same letter. The capital P for example, at the begin-
ning of the thirteenth line, did not appear to me exactly the same
as that which commences the twentieth line ; the same letter, at the
beginning of the twenty-fourth line, appeared to have a black line
dosing it in at top, in which it differed firom the two former ; and I
thought I saw small differences between these three, and the two
S|>ecitt3fens of the samfe letter, at the beginning of the thirty-third and
tWrty-seventh lines, which, however minute, were, I conceived,
sufi&cient to oppose the idea of their having been cast in the same
mould. Upon examining the minuscules, I perceived, here and
there, the marks of a sharp instrument, and I became of the opinion
that they had been executed, not, indeed, on wood, but on pieces of
meted, by means of the graver : until, turning to one of the pages
printed firom an engraved block, and seeing the comparative imper^
fection of resemblance in the same letters, I was forced to relinquish
my latter opinion, as on every account, to the full as untenable as
my former one.

It wouid be tedious to the reader to follow me through the many
examinations by which I at length succeeded, in convincing myself
that die judgment, which I had at first formed, was just, and that the
work was indeed printed with cast type ; more especially as it was
not until afler I had been some time firmly persuaded of that fact,
that I discovered such evidence as was of a nature to be particu-
larized by description, and thereby communicated to others.

It may seem iM^arcely necessary to say any thing, in addition to

242 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS [chap, hi,

what has already been said, in proof that the type used in the differ-^
ent editions of the Speculum was moveable. The impressions of the
blank characters, perceptible in some places in the vacant parts of
the pages, and before noticed, are decisive as to that point; and the
fact, moreover, is generally admitted. Nevertheless, as I happen to
have discovered an additional piece of evidence, in proof that such
was the case, I shall briefly state it.

The subjects of most of the cuts in the Speculum, are taken, aa-
we have seen, from Scripture ; and as, at the bottom of each column
of text, the printer states the book and chapter in which the story
represented above it is contained, these references, by furnishing
frequent repetitions of the same word, offer an easy mode of detect-
ing those venial errors of orthography to which press-work is so
liable ; and which, when they are found in words of common use, in
the vernacular tongue of the printer, constitute the best possibly
evidence of the mobility of the types used upon the occasion; as
they cannot be accounted for, like the errors noticed at p. 140, in
one of the editions of " the Book of Canticles,*' upon the ground of
the workman's ignorance ; but must have been occasioned by the
compositor happening, accidentally, to insert one character instead
of another, when re-setting the word.

The word capittel, chapter, in the Dutch edition, occurs twice
at the bottom of almost every page of the book ; sometimes abbrevi-
ated, but generally spelt at length. At the bottom of the column
under the cut representing '* Naaman cured of his leprosy,'' No. 24,
this word is spelt carittel, the compositor having by mistake intro-
duced an r instead of a /> ; under that of " Naomi weeping the
" death of her sons," No. 50; it is spelt thus ; capittil, — ^the c, by
mistake, having an accent over it — ^an error which nowhere else
occurs ; and at the bottom of the text, under the cut of " God com-
" manding Abraham to leave the land of Ur," No. 54, the word is
spelt thus — capistel ; the printer, in his hurry, having mistaken the
double letter st for the double «.

There is therefore no doubt that the characters used in the differ-

CHAP, iii.l SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIST 24^

ent editions of the Speculum (except twenty pages in one of the
Latin editions) were moveable types ; and I now proceed to pro-
duce what I trust will be admitted as satis&ctory evidence, that
these types were cast In order, however, that this evidence may
be clearly understood, it will be proper, in the first place, to oflFer a
few remarks concerning the mode supposed to have been used by
the inventors of printing, in preparing their type*

The operation by which the casting of letters was effected during
the infancy of typography was very different from the process now
used in letter-foundries, and far less perfect. The first cast type is
believed to have been made by pouring melted lead, pewter, or
other metal, into moulds of earth, or plaister, formed, whilst the
earth or plaister was in a moist state, upon letters cut by the hand
in wood or metal ; in the ordinary manner used from time imme-
morial, in bell-founding, and in casting statues of bronze and other
articles of metal, whether for use or for ornament. The mould
thus formed could not be of long duration like a matrix cut or
stamped in metal, since it was obviously subject to fracture ; nor
could it be equally true or perfect in other respects, as it was liable
\» warp in drying.

From moulds thus constructed, but a small number of specimens
of each letter could be taken, before they would require to be re-
newed. This, it is reasonable to suppose, was effected by forming
new moulds upon the various specimens of the characters which had
been cast out of the old ones. Those characters, however, before
they could have been fit for use, it had been necessary to clear, by
means of the graver, from the small particles of extraneous metal
left upon them in the process of casting ; so that the small acci-
dental dissimilarities in the different specimens of each letter, origin-
ally occasioned by this imperfect mode of casting them, were neces-
sarily augmented by the afler-process of finishing or clearing them
with a i^arp instrument; and thus the renewed moulds, formed
upon the letters thus prepared, would necessarily differ, and in
some cases very materially, from the former ones, and also (for these

2 I 2

244 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [cqap. hi.

moulds could be multiplied at pleasure) from each other. That s^
hook, printed with type thus manufactured, should present a never
ending variety in the forms of the different specimen? of the same
letter, is, therefore, not surprizing; it is rather a subject for our
admiration, that the dissimilarity in the characters in the work be-
fore us, is not greater, aQd more immediately apparent

This necessary variety in the appearance of the characters, iii
books printed with type made by the above process, renders it ex-
tremely difficult to prove, from a comparison of those characters^
that such books were, in reality, printed with cast type at all ; and^
indeed, a French writer, whom we have often cited, says, in sp^ak-
inj^ of the largw 9ized type of the Psalter of 1457, ^* that he thinks
^ it imppS6i|;)l£ to pronounce whether those characters, wherein,''
says he, '' so many inequahties and variations in the same letters
^' have been observted, were cut in wood, or cast in moulds of clay
^ or plaister, seeing that these two processes, although different,

would :give the same result of inequality and disproportion ; aa

may be seen,'' says he, ^' in multiplied example? in th^ history of
** printing by stereotype."*

Notwithstanding, however, that the remark of Lambinet, as to
the difficulty of distinguishing, by the impression, between carved
type, and such as was cast by the imperfect method above described,
and afterwards finished by the hand, is not wholly unfounded;
still I am of opinion, that if due diligence be used in the examina-
tion, such a distinction will, in most cases, not be found impossible*
Besides the smaller varieties of form in the letters, commonly to be
found in books printed with type prepared by the ancient mode of
casting, the marifis of accidental fractures or distortions of a more
obvious kind will sometimes be discovered in particular letters;
occasioned, perhaps, by some fracture or distortion which the mould,
out of which that particular letter was cast, had encountered whilst
drying. If, notwithstanding such an imperfection of the moqld,

* LMnbineC, toon. ii« p. 314.

€€
€€

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALYATIONIS. 84d

several letters were cast out of it, (which> in the in&ncy of ty«
pography, would probably be the case, if the fracture was not of
such a magnitude as to render the letters cast from it wholly unfif
for use) each of those letters would retain peculiar marks, by
which it might be distinguished from other specimens of the same
letter that had been cast out of moulds which were free from such
defects ; even notwithstanding the after-process of clearing the letr
ters from the superfluous metal left upon them in casting, whidi, in
the type of the Speculum, at least, appears to have been hastily
performed by a sharp instrument. Now, as in the mode of casting
above-mentioned, a sufficient quantity of type for printing could
only be obtained by moulds often renewed upon the characters
before cast, it w^uld occasionally happen that the renewed moulds
would be formed upon letters which, having themselves been cast
out of fractured or distorted moulds, retained the marks of such
imperfection ; and thus the traces of the original accident would
descend, if I may use the expression, to a large portion of th6
specimens of that particular character ; more especially if the on*
ginal accident occurred at an early period of the operation of pre-*'
paring the type.

A remarkable accident of this kind appears to have occurred
during the process of casting the type used for the Speculum ; and
as it furnishes, in its effect, very sufficient evidence of its origin,
I shall here describe it. Among the characters of common occur-
rence in Lord Spencer's Dutch copy, is the following ^ . It is not
so oflen found in the edition called ^' the first Latin :** that language
not admitting so frequently of its introduction. This character, in
its perfect shape above represented, occurs in the SOth line of the
first page of the preface of the Dutch edition, and is repeated, with
small variations in its appearance, in the same line, and in the
10th, nth, 13th, 15th, 18th, 21st, 27th, and 33d lines of the same
page. But it is remarkable that, in most instances, as well in this
page as in other parts of the book, it appears with the marks of
fracture or dislocation, in the line of abbreviation over the letter^

246 SPECULUM HUMANAR SALVATIONIS. [chap, uu

thus, tl * whence there appears reason to conclude that the original
fracture or warping of the mould, occurred at an early period of the
process of casting the type. In some instances, as, for example, in the
4th line of the right-hand column of text, under the cut No. 18, the
mark of abbreviation over this letter, appears broken into two dis-
tinct pieces, thus, fi ; (an accident which, perhaps, happened to
the letter after casting, in the course of its use, in consequence of
the weakness of the type in that part) whilst, in others, on the con-j
trary, the indication of the original dislocation of the mould is
scarcely perceptible.

The above circumstances not only furnish satisfactory proof that
the type of the Speculum was cast, but, also, that it is identically
the same in two, at least, of the editions of the work : for the same
marks of dislocation, in the line of abbreviation over the letter which
we have noticed, are found in several places in the edition called
'' the first Latin ;" as in the first page of the pre&ce, at the 31st,^
d5th, 36th, and 38th lines ; in the fourth page, at the 30th and 32d
lines ; in the column of text on the right-hand, under the 30th cut, at
the 6th, 10th, 17th, 19th, 22d, and 24th Hues ; and in many other
parts of the volume : nor have I any doubt that, upon examination^
the same defects in this particular letter will be discovered in the
first edition of the Speculum, hitherto called, " the second Latin,^
which, as has been already observed, there is every reason ta
conclude was printed with the same type.

By similar means it may, probably, hereafter be ascertained, that
the fragment of a Donatus, which was discovered at Harlem in the
binding of a book of accounts of the year 1474,* and of which a

* This rragmeiit, which u printed on velr book-binder. Meertnan calls this the third

luniy was found attached to the bindiiq; of a edition of the Donatus, and supposes that it

book of accounts of the church of Harlem, was printed, by the successors of Coster, n

written entirely in the year 1474; and it is little before 1474. Upon this point, it may

remarkable that the MS. contains an entry, be sufficient to observe, that he appears to

in which mention is made of Cornelius the have had no better authority .for his chrono-i

CHAP. Ill] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS.

247,

page is copied in plate VI* of Meerman's work, was also printed
with the same characters ; a fact which, if it be estabUshed, will,
by a fair inference, greatly strengthen the cause of Harlem, by
shewing the probability that, according to ancient tradition, the
early editions of the Speculum were really printed in that city.

Whether or not the Fragmentum Doctrinalis Alexandri Gallic two
leaves of parchment in 4to. mentioned by Fischer, and noticed in a
note at p. 190 of this work, was pritited with the same characters^
and whether or not that fragment is identically the same which is
ascribed, in Visser's catalogue, to the press of the successors of
Coster, I cannot determine. Lord Spencer has lately made the
acquisition of four leaves of vellum, of a small 4to size-r— part of
an edition hitherto unknown of the Catanis Disticha — ^which was
certainly printed with the type used for the Speculum, notwith-
standing that, in consequence of the shrinking of the vellum, the
characters appear of somewhat smaller dimensions. A full page

logical arrangement of the different Doua-
tuses, than he had for the different editions of
the Speculum, in his arrangement of which
it has been shewn he was egregiously mis-
taken. The fragment above-mentioned, there-
fore, may perhaps be much older than 1474.
I regret that we are not informed whether or
not this fragment, when it was discovered,
exhibited any marks of having been itself
part of a book which had been bound and
used, previous to its being applied to the
piurpose of assisting in the binding of the
account book of 1474.

Thb interesting fragment was not dis-
covered until after Meerman's laborious work
was very far advanced. He speaks of it,
tom. ii* p. £18, in a long note, (already re-
ferred to at p. £29>) from which I extract the
fcJlowing passage : — ^' Imo, quum probabile
'< Don sit," says Meerman, '' folium hoc peti-

tum ex editione apud exteros impressa,
quae in bibliopegi usum mutilata fuerit, sed
potius, residua aut inutilia folia libelli
'^ istbic loci excusi eam in rem inserviisse,
'' concludere porro licet, eum prodiise ex
'' o£Bcina Laurentiana Harlemi, quandoqui-
'< dem a. 1474. Nulla adhuc alia per totam
^ HoUandiam erecta erat, quum scholae Mar-
'' tinianae alumni demum a. 1477 • Delphis
** et Goudae (non vero a. 1473, ut falso
'^ scripsit Marchaniius ' Hist, de I'lmprim.'
'' p. 62.) Harlemi vero demum a. 1464, libros
'^ vulgaverint ; queis adde, quod in officina
'^ Laurentiana ministri quondam partes ipse
<< egisset Cornelius. Sed dubium omne ex-
** imit conformitas cum typis Speculi Bdgiei
** secundae editionis maxima, quae mihi aliis-
'' que, ambo archet^pa cum cura conferen-
'' tibus; statim sese manifestavit," &c.

248 SPECULUM HUMANAB SALVATIONIS. [jdhap. in.

contains twenty-one lines. The ^ exhibiting the marks of fracture
or dislocatioh, in thb hoHzontal line of abbreviation over it» more
or le» apparent, occurs in the last lin^ of the 1st page, in the
9th line of the 4th page, and in the 7th line of the dth page. In the
4th line of the 2d page, in the 15th of the dd page, and in the 9th
and 11th lines of the 8th page, the same char^ter occurs, but
without any marks of the imperfection so often noticed, t under-
stand it to hb the intention of Mr. Dibdin, to pr^seht his i^eaders
with the fac-simile of an entire page of this interteting fragment, in
ihe fourth volume of his " Bibliotheca Spenceriana.*'

In my endeavouirs to show that the type of the Speculum was
cast type, I have referred to a particular defect of frequent occur-
rence in the saiiie letter, because I considered that evidence, of
itself, decisive of the question, at the same time that it was easy
of communication. I will only add that, independent of this proof,
any person of a correct eye will, upon an attentive comparison of
the different specimens of any one letter, in any page of the book,
(except the twenty pages of block-printing, in one of the Latin
editions) discover abundant and convincing evidence that such was
the case.

If the type of the Speculum be compared with the types of other
early printed books, it will, I believe, be found to be more abundant
in ligatures than any other, of equal dimensions, known to have
been used in th^ Low Cwntriesi^ or perhaps els^wjiere, duriq|fthe
fifteenth century. This circumstance is strongly favourable to the
antiquity of ifite work.. 5or tJie inconvenience arising- frdm the too
frequ^triiae'i)f<yiies, eaqhe^ a practice which

was pmb^ly reported to m ^ 'in^^n^y ^^f ^typography, that the
printed book might resemble the wprk p£ th^e )caligraphi»t, ajid thus
pass for manuscript, occasioned them by degrees to be more
sparingly used after the art was no longer a secret ; especially in
books printed with characters of a large size ; as by the diminution
of the number of pieces employed, the expense and labour of pre-
paring the type was greatly diminished.

CHAP, iiij SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. S40

To this it may be added, that the type of the Speculum is very
remarkable for its heaviness of appearance ; the dark strokes of the
characters being thicker in proportion to the dimensions of the let-
ters than is the case in the types ascribed to Guttenberg, in those of
Fust and Schoeffer, or perhaps in those of any other ancient printer.
This peculiarity in the type of the Speculum was, it is probable,
necessarily occasioned by the nature of the material used for its
construction ; which, from the general want of sharpness in the ap^
pearance of the letters^ and the frequent fractures and zigzag bend-
ings in the fine strokes ofsomeof them — ^the capital I in particular —
there seems reason to believe was pewter, or some other soft metallic
composition, ill calculated to resist the force of the press, unless in
characters of thick and heavy proportions. If this conclusion be
well founded, it will be admitted as in no small degree corroborative
of the testimony of Junius.

It remains for us to say a few words concerning the difference
between this type, and that with which two pages only of '' the
'^ second Dutch edition," as it is called, are printed ; viz. the 45th
and the 50th.

The form of this latter type, so far as the two above-mentioned
pages furnish the alphabet, are given in the annexed fac-simile :

toe e f ee(?df 6 ft® gage$?0booe^*^^ ^

Vtl ipq ijt 2 Y^fet2iifoaiS»^r(eC(i 11 (b ft*

This type differs considerably from that used in the other parts of
the work ; not only in the forms of several of its letters — ^the capital
A, for example, and the capital D — ^but also in its size : twenty-seven

2 K

SfiO

SPECULUM HUSIANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap, hi;

lines of text in these two pages occupying nearly the same space as
twenty-five lines in the other pages of the volume. It is also re-*
markable, that some letters are found joined to others following
them, in this type, which never occur so joined in the other; as the
consonants b and h, for example, followed by the vowels a, e, and i.
The ink, moreover, used in printing these two pages, is browner, and
appears to have been more diluted with oil,* than that used in other
parts of the work, and the paper is thinner and of an inferior quality*
But it is especially worthy of notice, that this type, when applied to
the purpose of completing these two pages of the Dutch edition,
appears to have been in much worse condition than the other type ;
and, indeed, it bears the marks of having suffered so much from
previous hard usage^f as to render it difficult to believe that the
printer would have resorted to it, upon the present occasion, had he
had any other. The only reasonable hypothesis therefore that I
am able to frame, by which to account for these two pages being
printed in a manner so inferior to the rest, and the still more extraor-
dinary introduction of twenty pages of block-printing in the Latin
edition so often mentioned, is, that the printer who printed the FIHST
EDITION of the Speculum (called '^ the second Latin/') left, upon his
death, the second EDrriON, (hitherto styled " the second Dutch,'*)
and the third edition (erroneously called '* the first Latin,") in-
complete ; that the type which had been used for those editions
having been stolen or destroyed, shortly previous to the death of ,
such printer, or perhaps soon after his decease, his successor, natu-

* In this respect^ these two pages appear
to bear a resemblance to those of the edition
which Meerman calls '' the first Dutch^"
which are printed, he tells us, with browner
and more oleaginous ink than the other edi-
tions, a circumstance which is in favor of
my opinion, that that edition was afterwards
printed by tlie same person who had com-
pleted the two pages of the other.

*)r I am not aware that any fragment or

book, printed with the type used in the two
pages above-mentioned, has hitherto been
discovered. From the battered appearance of
the character, one might almost conjecture that
it had been made of lead — the material of
which, according to Junius, Coster made his
type, before he discovered that pewter, from
its being somewhat harder, was bettei fitted
for the purpose.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALYATIONIS. 261

rally desirous to make the most of the property which he had
inherited, lost no time in completing the text of the two pages
wanting in the Dutch edition, by having recourse to the remains of
some old type which had been thrown aside by his predecessor bs
no longer fit for use ; but that finding the imperfections of this old
type, of which he, probably, possessed but a small quantity, and
being himself unequal to the task of casting new, (an art which
whether from his youth or other causes he had not been su&
ficiently instructed in during the life^time of him from whom he^
inherited,) he was obliged, in order to complete the twenty pages
wanting in the Latin edition, to have recourse to one of the nume*
rous artists who, long previous to, as well as afi;er, the invention of
typography, practised engraving in wood.

The rude manner of printing used in completing the two last
mentioned editions of the Speculum, can only be accounted for by
the supposition that, at the time and place in which they were pub-
lished, the art of typography, which had been shortly before prac-
tised with good prospect of success, although still in its infancy, had,
by some strange mishap, experienced a check which little less than

* Thomas Peler, the son-in-law of Coater,
and who assisted him in his invention, is sup-
posed to have died before him, leaving sons,
the eldest of whom could not, according to
the genealogical account of the family given
by Meerman, have been more than twenty
years of age, when Coster himself died : an
event which^ it is believed, took place about
the year 1440. This young man, therefore,
although his youth was not such as to render
it likely that he was entirely ignorant of the
art which his grandfather and his father had
heretofore practised, could scarcely have pos-
sessed more than an incomplete acquaintance
with it, when, upon the death of Coster, he
was called upon to take the management of
the new establishment; and consequently

when, by the robbeiy, which (judging from
the account of Guicciardini) took place
shortly after that period, he found himself
suddenly deprived, not only of the necessary
type for printing, but also of the services of,
perhaps, his grandfather's best workman, it
can neither be a matter of surprize that he
was obliged to complete the second and third
editions of the Speculum, in the rude man*
ner that has been described ; nor that he was
nuable, in the foorth edition of the work^
published, perhaps, a few years after these,
to equal that part of the pres»*work of the
former editions which bad been before exe*
cuted under the care and inspection of Coster
himself.

2 K 2

252

SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. iir.

occasioned its immediate destruction^ and greatly impeded its pro^
gress for the time to come. That this was the case appears evident
from the other Dutch edition, which there is reason to believe waii
printed the last of the four» (and probably fiome time after the last
mentioned Latin edition,) but which Meerman erroneously styles th6
first : this edition, although it is printed with moveable, and, no
doubt, cast type, being executed, according to Meerman's descrip*
tion of it, in a manner so inferior to the others as to prove that the
printer who executed it was far less perfectly skilled in the different
secrets of the art he practised,* than he was by whom the first
edition had perhaps many years before been published.

Upon the whole, the conclusions to be drawn from the examina^
tion and comparison of the four early editions of the Speculum;
^appear incompatible with any system of typographical history,
except such as has for its basis the ancient traditions recorded by

; * This inferiori^ of talent or diligence in
those who appear to have immediatelj sue-
ceeded Coster in the practice of the secret
art i^'hich he had invented, sufficiently ac-
counts for the silence of the old writers
Irespecting early printing at Harlem. Their
poor attempts were little calculated to draw
forth the notice of contemporaneous histo-
rians, even had they been known, which for
some time, it is probable, was not the case*
The printers of Mentz, meanwhile, were
eminently successful in their endeavours to
perfect the art of printing, and soon put forth
works which, from their magnitude as well as
the beauty of their execution, couM not fail
to occasion the admimtioD of all Europe*
Through their means also the knowledge of
the art became diffused. It is therefore
rather a matter of surprize, that even one of
the writers of the fifteenth century (the au*
thor of the Cologne Chronicle) should have

noticed the pretensions of Harlem^ tha>i thaf
so many should have been silent respectiqff
them. It appears highly probable that the
rude method of printing used by the succes-
sors of Coster, continued to be practised in
Harlem, and perhaps in some other parts of
Holland, until some time after the establish*'
ment of the more perfect mode of typography
introduced into the Low Countries by Tbeod.
Martens and John of Westphalia ; a suppo-
rition which, if it be admitted, will in some
degree account for the disciples of the Meutz
printers not having establbhed their presses in
Holland and Flanders so early as in most other
parts of Europe. The number of books
rudely printed in the Low Countries, without
dates, seems to justify the hypothesis : besides
that, it is extremely improbable tliat an art of
this kind, once practised, in any province,
however imperfectly, should afterwards have
£eillen into entire oblirion and disuse.

CHAP. III.] SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS; 253

Van Zuyren, Coomhert, Junius, and Guicciardini ; with which they
perfectly accord. And I therefore am constrained to give my assent
to the testimony of these writers ; corroborated, as it appears to be,
by so many striking particulars of circumstantial evidence, and
especially confirmed by the internal evidence of the Speculum
itself the monument to which Junius refers.

But^ although such be the conviction of my own mind, I do not
flatter myself that it will be admitted by others that I have satisfac-
torily determined this long disputed question. The ultimate establish*
ment of Coster's pretensions, I leave to those who have leisure for so
arduous a task ; and who, if those pretensions be well founded, may,
at some future period, armed, perhaps, with evidence, the exist-
ence of which is at present unknown, wrest back the long usurped
wreath, to place it once more on the browa of its rightful owner.

Some apology b necessary for my having devoted so many pages
to the discussion of a question, which the reader may have con-
sidered foreign to the professed object of this work : more especially
as it may be urged against me that, in going so much at length into
the pretensions of Lawrence Coster, I have shewn myself little mind-
ful of my promise, at the beginning of this chapter, to keep as clear
as possible from all typographical controversy.

If the example of others may be pleaded in my justification, it
will be enough to refer to Papillon, Fournier, and, more particu-
larly, to Heineken, who devoted two hundred and thirty pages of
his ^' Idee G^n^rale," to an account of the early block-books, in-
termingled with his opinions concerning the invention of typo-
graphy ; although his work was expressly written upon the mode of
arranging a collection of prints.

The early history of wood engraving is, indeed, so closely inter*
woven with that of printing, that an inquiry into the former, must
necessarily occasion some mention of the latter ; and where it so
happens that documents or opinions of authority respecting the one
art, appear to be at variance with such as relate to the other, the

254 SPECULUM HUMANAE SALVATIONIS. [chap. hi.

examination of those on both sides, becomes essential to our forming
a right judgment concerning the points in dispute.

From the respectful deference that has been paid to Heineken
by more recent authors, his writings have, by degrees, assumed an
air of authority to which they have certainly not an indisputable
title; but which, nevertheless, has rendered it necessary that I
should be the more particular in defending, by argument or evi-
dence, those opinions in which I chanced to differ from him.
These, as has been seen, were not a few ; and I have consequently
been obliged to combat his system in detail — ^feeling that, if I did
not succeed in making out a strong case, I should incur the reproach
of imbecile presumption, in daring to call in question the truth of
doctrines familiarized by frequent repetition, and long sanctioned
by the learned. Afler all, the discussion concerning Coster would
not have had a place in this work, but for the accidental dis-
covery of the priority of the two editions of the Speculum, which
had hitherto been considered the third and fourth editions of that
work. This discovery appeared to put the question in a new lights
and led me into further research ; and I am willing to flatter
myself that, however my argument upon the subject may be found
defective, some of the facts upon which it is founded, and which
have been unnoticed by all former writers, vrill be deemed not un-
interesting by those who are curious in typographical antiquities.
I have purposely avoided the mention of such testimonies on the
side of Holland as appear of dubious authority, — ^as that recorded
by Atkins ; and 1 have omitted to notice others of inferior import
In short, I leave the subject open to future discussion ; satisfying
myself with having proved that, according to my original position,
the cuts of the three block-books described in this chapter, apper-
tain to the ancient school of the Low Countries, and not to that of
Germany.

Before we close this chapter, and, with it, our inquiry concerning
the antiquity of wood engraving, it may be proper briefly to reca«*

CHAP, iii.l RECAPITULATION OF DOCUMENTS^^ 256

pitulate some of the principal documents of the early use of
that art, that have been referred to in the preceding pages.

The earliest document of the practice of this art in Europe, is
that recorded by Papillon, of the wood-cuts of " the Actions of
Alexander/' engraved by the two Cunio, at Ravenna, and dedicated
by them to their kinsman. Pope Honorius IV. about the year 1285.
It is unnecessary to add to the reasons, given in our first chapter,
which have induced us to place reliance upon the French writer's
accuracy in describing this interesting monument of ancient xylo-
graphy, now no longer to be found.

It cannot be denied that the distance between this epoch and the
protective . decree of 1441, of the government of Venice, is for-
i&idable. Nor should we have placed it next in the order of time,
did not the context of that record furnish undoubted proof that the
art of trood engraving had been commonly practised, not only in
Venice, but also in other parts of Europe, very long previous to its
date. The decree, indeed, as has been observed in our second
dmpter, speaks of the art of manufacturing cards and printed
figures, in terms which would have been every way appropriate, had
it had for its object the re-establishment of the most ancient manu-
&cture of VenicCr I have suggested that we may, in some degree,
fill up the chasm between the epoch of the two Cunio, and that of
the decree of Venice, by the most early records of the general use
ef playing-cards in Europe : because I think* that cards could
never have been general in any European country, until the art of
wood engraving was resorted to in their manufacture : as the time
and labour required to design and colour them by the hand, must
have rendered them too expensive an amusement, except for the
most opulent classes of society, and, consequently, have acted as a
prohibition against their general use.

Under this supposition, the mention of cards in the Trattato del G(h
vemo ddla FamigUa of Smidro di Fipozzo,f written about 1299, and in

• Vide p. 65. f Vide p. 67.

256 RECAPITULATION OF DOCUMENTS; [chap, hi.

the Romance of Renart le Cantrefait,* which was finished in 1341^
and also their prohibition, in 1387, by John I. King of Castile,f may
be fairly admitted as testimony of the practice of wood engraving
at those respective periods, in Italy, France, and Spain, Th6
^mallness of the price paid for the three packs of cards gilt and
coloured for King Charles VI, by Jacquemin Gring(mneur,1^ about
1392, and recorded in a book of accounts of the court of France
of the time, is sufficient evidence that they must have been first
printed, and afterwards finished by hand-
But although from the paucity of express records of ancient wood
engraving, we have had recourse to the early notices concerning the
use of cards, still there appears sufficient reason to conclude, that
long previous to the introduction of those articles of amusement^
the art had been commonly applied, in diffisrent parts of Europe, to
the purpose of administering to the superstition of the people, by the
images of saints and other devout representations. Prints of this
kind, impressed from blocks rudely engraved, and afterwards daubed
over with a few gay colours, are expressly referred to in the Vene*
tian decree above mentioned ; and although such rude productions
do not appear to have be^n preserved by the Italians, they are found
in considerable numbers in the convents of Germany ; seldom indeed
accompanied with dates, but ofi«n bearing the marks of a great an-'
tiquity. The date 1384 on the wood-cut preserved at Lyons,|| said
to have been executed at Nuremberg, appears, I know not why, to
have been suspected; that of 1423, on the St, Christopher, in the
possession pf Lord Spencer, and that of 1437^ on the St Sebastian^
mentioned at p. 96^ are, however, not subject to similar doubt
The St, Christopher, with its companion, the Annunciation^ we have
given our reasons for jsupposing was executed in Italy. § The in*
scriptions on those two prints, ^nd the prayer under the St. Sebas*

• Vide pp. 69. 70. I Vide p. 88.

+ Vide note, p. 77. | Vide p. 89, et seq,

J Vide p. 69,

CHAP. 111.] WOOD CUTS IN EARLY ITALIAN BOOKS. 257

tiari, are suflGicient to prove that the art of printing characters from
engraved blocks of wood was neither the invention of Gutenberg,
of Fust, or of Coster.*

Althou^ the art of wood engraving does not appear to have
^een anciently practised in Italy with the same care and diligence
as was bestowed upon it in Germany and the Low Countries, the
Italians, nevertheless, upon the introduction of the newly invented
^urt of typography among them, were not deficient in artists com^
petent to the task of illustrating their first printed books with wood-
cuts. The Meditationes Reverendissimi patris Domini Johanrm de Tur^
recremata, printed at Rome in 1467, by Ulric Han, is accompanied
by wood-cuts, which, although of excessive rudeness, are engraved,
as Zanif assures us, by the hand of an Italian artist. The nume-i
rous cuts of figures and machinery that enrich the Roberti Valturii
i^pus de re MUitari, printed at Verona, by Giovanni da Verona,
in 1472, are full of spirit, and are supposed to have been designed^,
and perhaps engraved, by Matteo Pasti, a Veronese artist of
some note in those times, and the friend of Valturius.^ The reader

* When I wrote the first chapter of this
book, (vide p. 40) I was not aware of the
memorandum in Rabbi Joseph's chronicle^
in which mention is made of a block-book
said to have been printed at Venice in 1428.
If such a book ever existed, and the fact does
not seem very improbable, it was^ no doubt,
a book of images, with inscriptions. Scri-
verius thinks it must have been the Biblia
Pauperum, which the Rabbi chanced to see
at Venice. Meerman gives no credit to the
story, but inserts the passage, both in the
original Hebrew and in a Latin translation,
amongst his Documents. The Hebrew text
is omitted in the following extract.

Documenta, Num. lxxx. R. Joseph
Haccohen (qui etiam R. Joseph fil. Josuae
appeUatur) in Chronico quod Verba dierum

inscribitur, atque Annales continet Regum
Galliae et Domus Ottomannicae, edit, Venet
apud Comelium Adelkind, a. 1554. ad
a. 1428.

'' Dicit Joseph Haccohen. Videtur jam
his temporibus typographia mventa ; nam ipse
^o vidi librum, typis excusum Venetiis, anno
millesimoquadringentesimovigesimo octavo.''

t '< Materiali," &c. p. 194, note 85.
Further notice concerning (his edition of
Turrecremata has been before given at p. 29.
A copy of one of the cuts is given in. De
Murr's " Bibl. Noremb." vol. i. p. 2.60.

J Mqffei, " Verona lUustrata," parte iii.
col. 195, et seq. Matteo Pasti resided some
time at Rimini, of which city was Valturius.
Valturius speaks of Pasti, in one of his let-
ters, as being eminently skilful in the arts of

2 L

S58 WOOD CUTS IN EARLY ITALIAN BOORS, [chap^ iii;

irill be enabled to form an idea of the style of these engravings from
the fac-similes given of some of them in the fourth volume of Mr.
Dibdin's Bibliotheca Spenceriana.

After the establishment of typography^ the wood-engravers of Italy,
and especially those of Venice, began to exert themselves willi dili«-
gence ; in order that their cuts, no longer exclusively destined to be
distributed to the common people in commemoration of the miracles
of their patron saints, might possess that beauty of execution neces*
sary to render them truly ornamental to the printed volumes they
were employed to illustrate or adorn: insomuch, that before the
expiration of the fifteenth century, the art shewed itself with new
charms in the chaste and delicate outlines of an unknown designer
of those times, inserted in the first edition of the celebrated rhapsody
of Polifilo.

But, as long before this, the more polished art of coppers-plate en«
graving had been discovered, it is proper that we should no longer
defer speaking of that invention, which will be the subject of our
next Chapter.

Funtiiig, Scttlpture, and Engramng; and ance of probability, that the cuts in qvesfion
bence Maffei coqecturesy with some appau-- were executed by Us band.

€«AP-lv.] ANCIENT USE OF ENGRAVING IN metal; 26©

CHAPTER IV*

Of the Invention of Chalcography.

Engraoing on Metals with the Burin, practised hy the Ancients. Works
of Niello— mt^cA practised in Italy during the Fifteenth Century.
The Process, used in making such Works, described. Maso Fini-
GUERSA a Florentine Goldsmith, eminent in that way. His Practice
of taking Impressions of his Engra^vings in Sulphur : also on damped
Paper. Hie former Method considered. One of these Sulphurs
described. Vasari*« Account of Finiguerra'^ Practice of taking Im-^
pressions on Paper considered. His Discovery of that Method sup-
posed to have taken place not later than 1440. The Researches of
Mariette and Gaburri^ in hopes to find Prints bearing his Name or
Cypher. Impressions from Works of Niello of Anonymous Italian
Goldsmiths discovered. An Impression, coryectured to be from one of
Finiguerra'^ Engnavings, described. The Conjecture confirmed by
ZzuVs Discovery of an undoubted Impression from one of Finiguerra's
Works of Niello, at Paris. Zani's Account of his Discovery. His
Description of another Print at Paris, by the same Artist. The pro^
bability that Finiguerra lived to perfect, in some degree, his Inven-
tion ; and that he engraved some Plates for the purpose of Pub-
lication. A third Engraving, supposed to be by Finiguerra, of
which Zani met mth two Impressions.

IT has been observed, in a former Chapter,* that although the
ancients were accustomed to use stamps of metal for the purpose
of impressing wax, clay, and other substances capable of indenta-
tion, they appear to have been wholly unacquainted with the art of
taking the impressions of those convex surfaces with ink, or with any

* Vide p. 57, et seq.

^ 2l2

260 ANCIENT USE OF ENGRAVING. IN METAL, [chap. iy.

other tint on paper or parchment ; and we have thence argued^ that
the transition from the one mode of impression to the other, how-
ever it may now appear to have been a very obvious one, was not so
in reality.

Still greater obstacles opposed themselves to the invention of
the art of taking impressions on paper from engraved plates of
metal : for, as in these the strokes of the engraving are concave*
and apparently out of the reach of pressure from any flat surface,
like paper, they could' never have been thought calculated for such
a purpose until accident discovered that they were so. Notwith-
standing, therefore, that the art of engraving figures and other
objects with the burin upon plates of metal, as matters of taste and
ornament, continued to be practised without interruption from the
most remote periods of antiquity^ until the time when it was dis-
covered that such engravings were capable of being printed on
paper; it is perhaps less a subject for our surprise that so many ages
elapsed before that discovery was made, than of our gratulation
that it took place at all.

That a species of engraving on metal every way fitted for impres-
sion, was used by the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and
the Romans, is, indeed, a fact which the monuments of antiquity,
preserved in our museums, place beyond all doubt. The engraved
figures found upon so many of the ancient pateras, might be
printed, were it not for the projecting border by which they are
generally surrounded. Mr. Strutt, in his Dictionary of Engravers,
has given the copy of an engraved plate of very remote antiquity,
which is preserved in the British Museum, and is supposed, by him,
to have been, originally, part of the sheath of a sword, or dagger.
Five figures, perhaps intended to describe the rape of Helen, are
represented upon it in outline. They are executed with the graver;
and as the surface of the plate is flat, it might, as Mr. Strutt ob-
serves, even now be printed by the ordinary method used in taking
the impressions of copper-plates, were not the metal apparently too
fragile to endure the force of the press.

CHAP. IV.] ANCIENT USE OF ENGRAVING IN METAL. 261

A patera of yellow metal, which was formerly in the Museum of
the Cardinal Carpegna, and is represented in the plate beneath, is
particularly interesting, although it is of less remote antiquity ; as
the eflFect of the engraved figures is enlivened in some places by
parallel hatchings, similar to those used in copper-plate engraving in
modem times. The learned Buonarroti, by whom it is described,
observes " that it would be sufficient to occasion our astonishment
" that the ancients did not discover the art of chalcography, were it
^ not known that discoveries of this sort generally occur accident-
*■ ally to mechanics in the exercise of their calling."*

• "OssermuionilrtorichesopraalcuniMed^lioniAnlichi." Proemto, p. xvii, 4to Roma, 1698.

262 THE PROCESSI OF WORKING IN NIELLO, [chap^ ir.

Vasari, who has been sometimes not improperly styled the
Herodotus of modem art, informs us, that we are indebted, for the
important invention of chalcography, to the good fortune and talents
of Maso, or ToMMASO FiNiouERRA, an eminent Florentine gold«»
smith of the fifteenth century.

During that century a species of handicraft was much practised
by the goldsmiths throughout Italy, but especially at Florence,
termed, " working in niello'* This mode of workmanship, which
fell into neglect in the sixteenth century, was used in the decoration
of plate destined for sacred purposes ; as chalices, reliquaries, and
Taxes ; also on the hilts of swords, the handles of knives and forks,
and on clasps and t)1tiW female ornaments. It was likewise fre-
quently adopted in small cabinets made of ebony, which, here and
there, were ornamented with little statues of silver, and plates of the
same metal " worked in niello/* with figures, with historical repre-
sentations, or with arabesques. ♦

The process employed in this kind of work is described by Vasari
in one of the preliminary chapters to, his " Lives of the Painters,"
where, at the same time, he first introduces us to Finiguerra ; and
I am the more induced to give the passage, as well as whatever else
is to be collected fi-om Vasari relative to the origin of Chalcography,
in a careful translation of his own words, as he is the only author
who wrote on the subject at a time when oral testimony, at least, to
the facts he relates, might still have existed, and, consequently, the
only historian of any real authority ; and as subsequent writers have
quoted him, for the most part, very incorrectly.-^

** The method,*' says he, *' of producing works of niello, which
are no other than designs hatched or painted upon silver, as we
paint or hatch delicately with a pen, was discovered by the

.* Lami, ^* Storia Pittorica/ torn. i. p. contain the names of almost every author on

77, Edizione di Bassano. the subject of engraving, except those who,

f A catalogue of those who have mis- writing in Italian, were enabled to use

tated the account of Vasari would, indeed, Vasari's own words.

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44

CHAP. IV.] VASARrS ACCOUNT OP nNIGUERRA. 26d

^ goldsmiths even in the time of the ancients ; for there are to be
^* seen hollows cut with instruments of iron, and filled up with some
'^ kind of composition, in their works of gold and silver.

The way of making works of this kind is, first to design the
intended subject with a point of steel upon the silver, Which must
be of an even and smooth surface, and then to engrave it with the
^ burin — an instrument which is made of a square rod of iron, cut
at the end, from one angle to the angle opposite, obliquely ; so
that being very sharp and cutting, as it ^ere, on both sides, its
point runs along with great ease, and the artist is enabled to
♦' engrave with it most delicately. With this instrument all things
are done which are engraved upon plates of metal ; whether with
the intmtion of filling the work afterwards with niello, or of
leaving it empty ; according to the will of the artist.
" When, therefore, he has engraved and finished his work with
*^ the burin, he takes silver and lead, and, mixing them together
** on the fire, makes of them a composition which is of a black
colour, very brittle, and, when melted, of a nature to run with
great nicety into the work.* This composition is then bruised
very fine, and' laid upon the engraved plate of silver, which it is
necessary should be quite clean ; the plate is then placed near a
^' fire of green wood ; when, by means of a pair of bellows, the
'^ flame is blown upon the niello, which, being dissolved by the
^' heat, runs about till it has filled all the engraved work made
" by the burin. Afterwards, when the silver is cold, the super-
'^ fluous part of the composition is scraped off, or worn away by
** degrees with a pumice-stone; and lastly, the work is rubbed
*' with the hand, or with a piece of leather, until the true surface
'^ appears, and every thing is polished.

^' In this mode of workmanship, Maso Finiguerra, of Florence,
" was a most admirable artist, as may be seen in certain Pojces by

$4
44
44
44

* Vasari appears in this passage to have niello was composed. The defect will bf
omitted some of the ingredients of which the found supplied in a subsequent page.

264

VASARI'S ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA. [chap. iv.

€€

'< his hand, worked in mello, in the church of St Giovanni, at
^' Florence, which are justly deemed astonishing productions.
" From this kind of Engraving was derived the art of Chalco«
graphy, hy means of which we now see so many prints, hy Ita-
han and German artists throughout Italy ; for as those who
worked in silver, before they filled their engravings with nieUo,
took impressions of them with earth, over which they poured
liquid sulphur, so the printers discovered the way of taking off
*^ impressions from copper-plates with a press, as we see them do
" in these days."*

The above is all the information that we find relative to the
origin of Engraving; in the first edition of Vasari, printed in 1550 ;
for although Finiguerra is mentioned by him a second time in that
edition, in the life of Pollajuolo, nothing is said of his practice of
taking impressions from his engravings on paper ; so that but for
his augmented work, published in 1568, we might still be in
ignorance of Maso's pretensions as the inventor of chalcogra;phy.-|*
Whether the Aretine biographer intended that his readers should
infer, from the latter part of this passage, that Maso was the
inventor, or whether he himself was uninformed of the fact
until afler the publication of the first edition of his book, may
9.ppear to be a question not very easy to determine ; though, for
reasons, which will hereafter appear, I am inclined to the former
opinion.

^ Vasarif torn. i. p. 6l| Edizione di Bo-
logna. This passage 18 the same in all the
editions.

'f There is indeed a passage in the Life of
Andrea Mantegna, in the first edition of
Vasari, which might lead any person, un-
acquainted with that writer's careless mode
of expression, to suppose that he meant
to give Mantegna the credit of the in-
vention of chalcography. '^ Lasci6 costui
^' aUa pittura,^ says Vasari, << la difficuUs^

'^ degli scorti delle figure al di sotto in sii ;
*^ invenzione difficile et capricciosa ; £t U
** modo dello intagliare in rame le Stampe
" detta ^figure,** &c. " He left to painting
'' the difficult art of foreshortening figures,
" di sotto in sit** &c. — " atid the method of
" engraving Jigures upon copper-plates,** &€•
I am of opinion, however, that Vasari meant
no more than that Mantegna was the first
who published large engravings worlby of
notice, in any number.

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CHAP. 1V.3 VASARI'S ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA. -265

Vasalri's ttext mention of Finiguerra, is in his lives of Antonio
and Pietro del Pollajuolo. " There was," says he, ** in Florence,
'' at the same time," viz. about 1450, " another goldsmith, called
Maso Finiguerra, who was deservedly of extraordinary repute,
especially for his management of the burin, and his works of
** meUo ; for there never had been known any artist who, in small
or in greater spaces, could execute such a prodigious number of
figures as he did ; as may still be seen in certain Paxes which he
*' made for the church of S. Giovanni, at Florence, with most
** minute stories of the Passion of Christ. He designed a vast
^' deal and extremely well, of which are many proofs in my Book
^' of Drawings, representing as well naked and draped figures as
*' historical subjects, done by him in Acquarella/**

It has been objected to the correctness of Vasari, in the above
passage, that only one Pas by Finiguerra is to be found at
S. Giovanni, and that representing, not stories of the Passion of
Christ, but '* the Assumption of the Madonna." This objection is
not conclusive ; for, in another part of the life of Antonio Pollajuolo^
after describing various works in silver executed by that artist's
scholars, he adds : ** but many of these, as well as of the works of
Pollajuolo, have been melted down and destroyed, in conse-
quence of the necessities of the city in time of war ;" a fate which
may also have befallen some of these works of Finiguerra in later
times.

The learned Gori, however, gives us a piece of intelligence, which
makes it more than probable that Vasari was, upon this occasion,
misinformed. After dwelling with rapture upon the Pax of *' the
Assumption of the Madonna," by Maso, a work of which we shall
hereafter have occasion to speak more particularly, he informs us
that another Pax of the same kind, is also preserved among the
treasures of the church of S. Giovanni, representing, in a composi-
tion of minute figures, " the Crucifixion of our Saviour ;" a work

* Vasariy Ediz. di Bologna, totn. i. p. 37 K the first edition and in all the subsequent
Thw passage, like the last, is the same in ones.

2 M

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266 VASARFS ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA. [chap. iv.

of great beauty, which Matteo, the son of Giovanni Dei, an excel-
lent goldsmith, and a citizen of Florence^ delivered finished in the
year 1455 ; receiving, in payment for his labour and the materials^
sixty-eight florins of gold.* We may, therefore, conclude that
Vasari, desiring to vievr the works of Finiguerra, of which he had
heard such high commendations, was shewn, by the person who
had them in custody, both these Pcures as the productions of the
same artist.

We now come to the third and last passage in which Vasari
speaks of Finiguerra: it is found in the beginning of a chapter,
added to the second edition of his work, wherein he has given an
account of Marc Antonio and other engravers, and is by far the
most important to the present inquiry, as it is there only we are
expressly told that he first practised the mode of taking impressions
from engraved plates on paper. The original, however, of this
passage, especially in that part of it which relates to the other im-
pressions or casts produced by means of earthy sulphur^ and smoker
is extremely obscure ; insomuch, that most of the Italian writers
who have treated on the subject since Vasari, have been satisfied to
transcribe his words, as if fearful to attempt their explanation. The
process used in making these sulphurs was, no doubt, still of gene-
ral notoriety amongst artists when Vasari wrote ; and hence, eager
to proceed, he indulged in a conciseness of expression which, it never
occurred to him, was, in itself, wholly inadequate to explain so
complicated an operation to those who should live near three cen-
turies afler its disuse.

" The art of copper-plate engraving," says Vasari, '* derived its
origin from Maso Finiguerra, a Florentine goldsmith, about the
year of our Lord, 1460. For it was the custom of that artist,
whenever he had engraved any work in silver which was to be
filled with niello, to take an impression or mould of it, pre-
viously, with very fine earth : over this mould he poured melted

♦ Jnt. Francisci Gori — " Thesaurus Vetenim Diptychorum," loin. iii. pp. 315-16-J7.

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GHAP. 1V.3 VASARre ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA.

'• sulphur, from which, when cold, the earth was removed : the
** sulphur cast, then exhibiting an impression corresponding with
** the engraved plate, was, lastly, rubbed with soot moistened with
^ oil, until all its cavities were filled with black ; when the whole
produced an effect similar to that which the niello afterwards
gave to the engraving on the silver. He also took impressions
upon damped paper, with the same dark tint, pressing a round
roller, smooth in every part, over the paper ; by which means
his works became printed; the impressions so taken assuming
the appearance of drawings done with a pen/** Vasari then
proceeds to relate that Finiguerra was followed, in the practice of
taking impressions from his engravings, by Baccio Baldini, and
so forth.

Such, I am convinced, is Vasari's true meaning. It is to be
observed, that the word argento, in the Italian, is followed by a
semicolon ; and that, again, by a capital £, as at the beginning of
a sentence. This mode was often used by Vasari and other old
Italian writers : the semicolon, with the capital letter following it.

€f

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* Lest I should be accused of having taken
unwarrantable liberties in the translation in
the text, I here insert Vasari's own words,
accompanied by as literal a translation of
them as I am able.

'^ II principio dunque dell' intagliare le
*' stampe venne da Ma$o Finiguerra Fio-
*^ rentino, circa gli anni di nostra salate 1460.
^' perche costoi tutte le cose, che intagli6 in
*^ argento per empiric di niello, le impront6
** con terra, e gittatovi sopra solfo liquefatto,
*' vennero ioiprontate, e ripiene di fumo ; onde
'' a olio mostravano il medesimo^che Targento;
'' E ci6 fece ancora con carta himiida, e con
** la medesima tinta agravandovi sopra con un
** ruUo tondo, ma piano per tutto, il che non
** solo le iaceva apparire stampate, ma veni*
'^ vano come disegnate di penna."

" The origin^ therefore, of copper-plate
** engravii^ was derived from Maso Rni^
'^ guerra, a Florentine, about the year of our
^' Lord 1460 : for that artist impressed with
'^ earth all the things which he engraved in
'' silver, for the purpose of filling them with
'^ niello, and having poured over them" (the
earthen impressions) '^ liquid sulphur, they
*' became printed and filled with smoke ;
^' whence, being rubbed with oil," (literally,
^* whence in oil/') ** they shewed the same
'^ as the silver ; and this he also did with
'^ damped paper, and with the same tint
^' pressing over it with a round roller, smooth
'* in every part, which not only made them
*^ appear printed, but they came as if drawn
" with a pen."

• . «

268 VASARrS ACCOUNT OF FINIGUERRA, [chap. iv.

were, together, at least equivalent to the colon. The learned Lanzi,*"
indeed, when citing this passage, changed the semicolon after the
word argento into a full stop ; thereby rendering the sense of the
author more clear — a liberty in which I have followed him in the
above translation. On the other hand, some of the modern editors
of Vasari, have incautiously discarded the capital E as a bar-
barism ; leaving the semicolon, insufficient of itself for the proper
division of the sentence, as it was : not reflecting that the sense of a
passage, at best not very easy to understand^ might thereby be
rendered more obscure.

The first author, however, who perverted the meaning of Vasari's
words in this place, though no doubt with the intention of making
them intelligible, was Baldinucci, who, of the two processes above
described^ most unaccountably makes one. ^^ Finiguerra," says
Baldinucci, ^ whenever he had engraved any thing in silver, for
^' the purpose of filling it with niello, was accustomed to impress it
^^ with earth ; and then, having poured over it melted sulphur, his
*^ work became in such a manner printed in that sulphur, that
having afterwards filled its impressed cavities with a certain tint
mixed with oil, and pressed damp paper over it, by means of
a wooden roller, his engraving became expressed upon the paper»
in the same manner as it was in the silver : and these printed
papers had the appearance of pen-drawings/'-f*
The words of Vasari cannot admit of this construction. What-
ever obscurities there may be in his mode of expression, it is most
clear that he intended to describe, not one uninterrupted series of
varied operations, all for the single purpose of taking an impression
of his work on paper ; but two distinct processes : the one beginning
with the impressed earth, and ending with the completion of the
sulphur ; when, its cavities being filled with black, it looked as the
silver plate would do after it received the niello : the other, the

* Sloria Pittorica, torn. i. p. 78. del Disegno/' 8lc. torn. iv. pp. S. 4. Ediz. del

f Baldinucci, ** Notizie de' Professori Manni.

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CHAP. IV.] FINIGUERRA'S IMPRESSIONS IN SULPHUR. 2ed

more simple operation of taking an impression from the plate itself
on paper, by first filling the engraved work with soot mixed with
oil, then laying damped paper upon the plate, and lastly, pressing
over it vrith a roller. It is surprising that Baldinucci should not
have seen this, and that the manifest unfitness of a substance so
brittle as sulphur, for the purposes of impression, should not have
occurred to him. Still more surprising it is that he should have
been followed, as we shall find to have been the case, in so ill-
founded an interpretation of Vasari*s words, by others, to whom the
insufficiency of the sulphur to resist the necessary pressure of the
roller, did appear most obvious.

The impressions, therefore, which Finiguerra was accustomed to
take from his engravings on silver, were of two kinds. The first,
cast out of earthen moulds, in sulphur : the second, printed on paper
fi*om the plate itself, by means of a roller.

Of the former kind — ^the sulphur — ^two specimens still exist, of the
authenticity *of which there can be no doubt ; since they are, both
of them, the impressions of the Fax of " the Assumption'' before
mentioned, and must have been taken by Maso himself, before he
completed that celebrated work with the nieUo, One of these sul-
phurs formerly belonged to the learned Gori, who mentions it in
his writings,* and is now in the magnificent cabinet of the Durazzo
family at Genoa^ accompanied, as Lanzi informs us,*f* by a paper
in Gori's hand writing, in which he attests the having confironted it
with the silver Fax. A short dissertation upon the other sulphur,
written by its proprietor, the Count Seratti, has been published by
Zani ; and as, fi*om its presenting a detailed account of what may be
justly termed one of the most interesting monuments of the art? of
the fifteenth century, it cannot but be acceptable to the reader, it is
here inserted. It is necessary however to premise, by way of caution,
that Seratti was one of those who unfortunately adopted Baldinucci'i^

* Thesaurus Veteruoi Diptychonun, tono. f Storia Pitiorica, torn. i. p. 79*
iii. p. 315.

270 SULPHUR BY FINIGUEREA DESCRIBED: [chap, iv.

erroneous interpretation of the passage in Vasari last mentioned i
and that, consequently, the justness of his argument cannot be so
well depended upon, as the accuracy of his description. Upon
some of the writer's opinions, indeed, it will be necessary that we
should animadvert, lest other persons, after the example of a recent
German writer* upon the same subject, should admit them into
their creed, to the great discredit of Finiguerra's pretensions.

'' A short Dmertatian upon the Sulphur by Maso Finiguerra, in the

^' possession of the Count Seratti.

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" Maso Finiguerra lived from 1400 to 1460. He was the disciple
of Masaccio.*t* He applied himself to the study of the goldsmith's
art, designed in chiaro-scuro, modelled in basso-relievo, and
excelled in works of niello. In executing works of this kind,
the intended subject was engraved with the burin upon a plate of

'* silver ; this was afterwards covered over with niello, which was a
nietallic substance, reduced to powder, composed of silver, copper,
lead, sulphur, and borax ;^ sd that it was more easily fusible than

** silver, and of a black colour : the necessary degree of heat was
then applied, which, melting this metallic compound, without
affecting the silver plate, occasioned it to run about until it had
filled all the strokes of the engraving. Lastly, the superfluous
part of the niello which rose above the surface of the silver plate,
was consumed by scrapers, files, and pumice stone, until the

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* Mr. Bartschy of whose opinions more
hereafter.

t Seratti does not appear to have had
any authority for phcing the birth of Fini-
guerra in the year 1400 or his death in 1460.
His assertion that he was a scholar of Ma-
saccio, seems to have no other foundation
than the opinion of Baldinucci*

% Seratti has here supplied a defect of

Vasari, who, in speaking of the ingredients
of which the niello was composed, carelessly
omitted to mention the copper, the sulphur,
and the borax. It. is evident that silver and
lead alone, could never have made a black
and brittle substance capable of pulveriza*
tion, such as he describes the fite//o to have
been.

CHAP. IV.] SULPHUR BY FINIGUERRA DESCRIBED. «71

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*' even surface of the plate appeared in every part ; so that the
niello only remained in the strokes made by the burin^ thus giving
to the engraved design its true effect.
" There have been celebrated, as the principal works of Maso,
^* two Faxes, which are preserved among the treasures of the
" church of S, Giovanni, at Florence. The one, representing ' the
Assumption,' is certainly by him. It was executed in 1 452 ; and cost
upwards of sixty-six florins of gold — a large sum in those times —
as appears in the ledger for that year, marked AA. preserved in
" the archives of the church. The other Fax was made by Matteo,
the son of Giovanni Dei, in 1455, and represents the cruci-
fixion : it is very inferior to that of Maso, both in composition
and design."*

" The Fax representing ' the Assumption,' is well known ^&
being the most certain and best authenticated work by Finiguerra
of that kind, and, perhaps, indeed the only one now existing ;
^' it is also celebrated for the delicacy and intelligence with which it
" is engraved, and the beauty of its design."

" The figures in this composition are about forty in number; all of
'^ them so eminent for beauty and expression, that the whole might
** rank with the finest productions of the best sera of painting, were
" it not for a little too much regularity in the distribution of the
** figures, and some degree of hardness in the outlines of the folds

€€

♦ Gorif (" Thesaurus Veteram Dipty-
chorum,'^ torn. iii. p. 315, et seq. after
having spoken of other magnificent works of
art in the treasury of the Church of S. Gio-
vanni, thus commences his description of
these two Paxes. ^* Juzta haec pretiosa
monumenta duae tabulae ai^enteae ad pacts
asculum dandum suscipiendumqiief ponderis
librarum fere viginti, signis argenteis inauratis
circumornatae, cum manubris argenteis in
postica parte^ exponuntur, quae immenso

opere elaboratae sunt,^ 8cg. 8cc. There
can be little doubt that the engraved pictures
which occupy the centre of these magnificent
pieces of plate, were executed separately
from the massy frames that surround them^
and that they were fixed into them by sol-
dering, after they were completely finished..
Otherwise, indeed, it would have been dif-%
ficult to take the impressions of the platea in
earth, and sulphur, and impossible to h«ve
done so on the damp paper with a rqller.

272 SULPHUR BY FINIGUERRA DESCRIBED, [chap. iv.

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'* of the draperies. Mariette desired a copy of it, which was sent
<' to him, together with some memoranda respecting it, by the
'' Cav. Gaburri/'*

'^ Upon this undoubted production of Maso, the Italians rest
their pretensions, in opposition to the Germans, of having
been the first to invent that sort of engraving in metal, which
was afterwards found adapted to impress designs upon paper/'*)^
^' Vasari and Baldinucci relate, that when Finiguerra had en-
graved any work, he printed it, before he introduced the nieUo,
with very fine earth ; that upon this earth he poured melted sul-
phur; and that then, having filled the cavities in the sulphur''
(corresponding to the engraving in the silver plate) '* with soot,
^' mixed with oil, he printed his designs on paper with a wooden

" roUer.J

*^ It is possible that upon some occasions he may have attempted
^* this process : but his chief object in casting the sulphur must
^* have been to assure himself of the perfection of his work, previous
to introducing the niello. Sulphur is of too brittle a nature to
resist the force that would be required to take an impression from
" it : moreover, the colour which is found in the sulphur which
*^ I possess of the Pojc of the Assumption, is pure lamp-black, or
" soot diluted in water, without any oil,§ and, consequently, inca-

♦ The inquiries of Mariette, with Gii-
burrfs answer to them, will be found in a
iubsequent page.

-f- We have judged that it would be most
satisfactory to the reader, that we should give
Seratti's short dissertation, with all its errors,
entire. It has already been shewn that engrav-
ings on metaly every way calculated for impres-
sion, had been executed more than two thou-
sand years before the mode of taking impres-
sions from them on paper was discovered ;
and it is hardly necessary to repeat, that it
is the latter invention only which die Italians,

upon the authority of Vasari, ascribe to Fini
guerra.

% We shall notice tlie erroneous opinions
and unfounded assertions of Seratti, in this
and some of the following paragraphs of his
dissertation, in a subsequent page.

§ This piece of information, founded, per-
haps, upon a chemical analysis oT the black
colour introduced in M aso's sulphur, seems
somewhat at variance with Vasari's words,
" onde a olio,** &c. (vide p. 267) nor can I
undertake to reconcile the apparent contra-
diction, any further than by the supposition

I •

CHAP. IV.] SULPHUR BY FINIGUERRA DESCRIBED. 273

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pable of giving an impression upon paper. Besides, had he been
desirous of taking impressions upon paper, he could have done it
more effectually from the engraved plate itself; and thus have
spared himself the pains required in taking the earthen impres-
sion and, afterwards, the sulphur cast. It is, indeed, said that the
Count Durazzo possesses some fragment on paper, printed by
'^ Maso in this manner.

" It is not improbable, considering the estimation in which the
works of Finiguerra were held, from the very first, that Baldini,
or Botticelli, or other artists, contemporary with, or little poste-
rior to him, might make copies of some of them for the purpose
of printing ; after accident had discovered to them that engraved
*' plates of silver or copper could be applied to such a use. Hence
'V may have arisen the opinion, that Baldini and Botticelli engraved
*'. under the, direction and fi'om the designs of Finiguerra :♦ the more
'^ so as, upon a comparison of the Pax of the Assumption, the un-
" doubted work of Maso, with the prints of Baldini and Botticelli,
** we discover the same difference as between an original by a great
'' master, and the imitations of inferior artizans and copyists.

The ingenious operation of casting the sulphur, and filling the
engraved cavities transferred to it, with soot, was, no doubt,
undertaken by Finiguerra, that he might discover whether his
'* work was perfect, if it was in harmony, if any thing >vas wanting
'' in the design, if any corrections were required ; for after the
**. introduction of the nieUo, nothing could be amended. All these
'' things it was impossible for him to ascertain from the silver plate,
" with the strokes of the burin empty ; where the design itself could

that the small portion of oil, which had been cation of moderately heated water, widiout

rubbed over the sulphur, might, in the course losing a considerable proportion of the black

of three hundred and fifty years, have so far tint with which they are printed ; and yet

evaporated, as to render its detection a there can be little doubt that that tint was

matter of no small difficulty. I can speak originally mixed with oil.

from experience, that many of the impres- * I know not where Seratti met with this

sions of early engravings, even some of those opinion,
of Marc Antonio, will not bear the appli-

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Vtl SULPHUR BY FINIGUERRA DESCRIBED, [chap. iv.

" be but fiauntly seen, and the general effect and harmony of the
'* work not at all. Nor could he introduce any extraneous matter
" into the engraved cavities, as that would have prevented the
" niello afterwards from adhering properly to the silver.

It was therefore necessary for him, in the first place, to take
an impression firom his plate with some very fine kind of earth ;
not that this simple process could, alone^ answer his purpose;
^* for as such an impression, besides being in a direction opposite
to the engraved plate, would display all the strokes of the
engraving convexly, the work upon it would have been incapable
of receiving an even tint by any means he could employ. By
impressing, first the earth upon the plate, and then pouring the
sulphur upon the earth, the sulphur came the same way as the
plate, with the work concave ; so that soot or lamp-black was
easily inti^oduced into it ; when the whole acquired the same
effect as it was intended the tdello should afterwards give to the!
" silver.
'* The Count Seratti possesses the sulphur taken J)y Finiguerra
from his Pax of ' the Assumption,' which might, peiiiaps, more
properly be termed the * Coronation of the Virgin.' This sul-
phur was originally fixed in a wooden frame of considerable
'* dimensions, ornamented with columns and cornices of carved
" work, gilt. From so rich a decoration, some idea may be formed
" of the estimation in which it was held at that early period. The
ornament, having suffered from the injuries of time, has been,
since, carefully cut away ; leaving the sulphur, in the form of
a small picture, with that part of the wood only in which it was
first inserted. The sulphur, which had sustained injury by small
pieces having been chipped off in some places near the centre, has
been restored by the professor Luigi Levrier.

In supplying the parts wanting, which were but very small, it
was judged necessary to avoid the use of sulphur, lest the heat
requisite in the application of it might affect the adjacent parts of
*' the work : wax would not answer, because it is liable to change

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CHAP, ivj SULPHUR BY FINIGUERRA DESCRIBED. 276

♦' colour; nor scagUolay because it shrinks in drying. TTie pro-
^ fessor therefore used a fine kind of plaister, tempered with oil ;
and upon this copied the parts deficient, stroke for stroke, with
the point of a small pencil and oil colour, from the original silver
*^ still preserved in the church of S. Giovanni. The parts restored
are to be discovered by viewing the sulphur in an oblique direc-
tion, the lines in those places being even with the surface of the
sulphur, but in the remainder, concave.

The sulphur has been compared with the silver pax, and scru-
pulously confronted with it, line for line, in every part : upon
'^ this occasion no variation whatever was discovered between the
^' one and the other ; whence we may infer that Finiguerra, upon
'^ taking this impression, found that his work required neither
** addition nor amendment This exact comparison proves its
*^ originality. That it should be copied is absolutely impossible ; and,
^' after the meUo was introduced, an impression could no longer
be taken: the sulphur was, therefore, beyond all doubt, made
by the hand of Finiguerra himself. In some respects, this sulphur
has a value beyond that of the silver pax, fiK)m which it was
*^ taken; the latter, fi*om it^ great age, having acquired a dark
patina, and being worn in some places ; so that the work appears
very faint, and is difficult to be distinguished ; whereas the former
is well preserved, and of a most brilliant and striking effect.
Tliis sulphur is semicircular at top, and measures, firom the
^' summit of the arch to the bottom, four inches and ten twelfths.
^^ Its breadth, is three inches and diree twelfths. In the midst, a
little towards the upper part of the composition, Jesus Christ is
seen placing a crown on the head of the Virgin : both these
•* figures are seated under a kind of tabernacle. In the place of
*' pilasters to support the tabernacle are two angels standing, with
" vases containing roses ; and, a little below, are four other angels,
'/ two on each side, also standing, with lilies in their hands. Above,
** on either side, stand three angels, blowing trumpets ; and within
•* the circular boundary of the picture, over the tabernacle, are four

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276 SULPHUR BY FINIGUERRA DESCRIBED, [chap. iv.

" other angels, in the air, holding a scroll, on which is written;
'' ASSVMPTA. EST- MARIA. IN. CELVM. GAVDET. EXER-
« CITVS. ANGELORVM.

" In the foreground of the composition, the objects nearest the
'* eye are two saints on their knees (S. Augustine and S. Ambrose).
" The former holds a crozier, and is dressed in his sacerdotal cope,
'* on the collar of which are these letters, AGOSTI : the latter has
" a book* in his hand, and on the collar of his dress, similar to the
*' other, is written ANBRVS. A little behind these, on the one
side, are five female saints ; two of whom, S. Catharine and
S. Agnes, are distinguished, the former, by her wheel, the latter^
by a lamb. On the other side are five male saints : among
these S. John the Baptist is designated by his under-garment of
camel's hair, and the cross in his hand. Behind these figures, oh
" the one side, are three other female saints ; one of them, S. Mary
Magdalen, with the vase of ointment ; and, on the other, three
more saints of the opposite sex. Behind these, again, are three
*^ other female, and three male saints; the females being, all of
" them, on the left hand of the composition, the males on the
right; using the terms lefl and right, to denote those parts of
the picture which are opposite to the left or right hand of the
spectator, as they are used in describing prints.

I have," adds Seratti, " made many experiments, with the
assistance of proper persons, in the hopes that old works of rddb
might be rendered capable of being printed. I imagined, that
in order to extract the niello from thie engraved plate, it would
be expedient to inake use of solvents which would act upon the
lead, the borax, and the sulphur, without affecting the copper or
the silver ; for had any solvent, used for the purpose, the power
of acting even upon the copper, it could not be applied with

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* That which Seratti took for a book is, appears joined to the other, as it io the act
probably, nothing more than part of the fur- of prayer.
Aer hand of the Saint^ which, in Zani's copy,

PHAP. I V.J SULPHUR BY f INIGUERRA DESCRIBED: fTT.

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safety ; since, as there is no silver without some alloy of copper/
the plate itself would be corroded in the operation, and rendered
" unfit for printing.

I conceived thslt the small particles of copper and silver; used^
in composing the niello, finding themselves insulated and sepa«
rated by the solution of the lead, the borax, and the sulphur,
with which they had been bound together, would have come
away of themselves ; leaving the engraved cavities, made by tiie
burin in the plate, entirely empty. In works of niello coarsely
'* engraved, and especially in letters of not too small a size, this
" was the case ; and such engraved plates, which had, at first, been
*' filled with niello, were rendered capable of furnishing impres-
'' sions. But with those of minute and delicate workmanship I-
" could never succeed. Some solution of the niello was, indeed,
" effected ; but, I suppose, the small component particles of silver
and copper remained so tightly fixed in the fine strokes made
by the burin, that it was impossible for them, to disengage them-
selves. The impressions which we have of works of niello, must
'* have been taken, either from those niellos which were executed
^' in the time of Baldini and Botticelli, when the art had been
" discovered of taking impressions from engraved plates, on paper,
** previous to introducing the niello; or from such plates as had
'' not been finished, and in which the melted niello had conse-
*• quently never been introduced."

' ^' The print of the conversion of S. Paul, is from a plate which
was intended to be worked in fdeUo, by an artist of the name of
Dati:* the plate was discovered in its present unfinished state,
and, in consequence, it has been capable of furnishing impres-

44
44
44

* The Count Seratti was some time go- to a print in the 0>unt'8 collection, concern-

vernor of liegbom. It was there that Fini- ing which some conversation had taken place

guerra's sulphur was shewn to 2^ni^ to whom^ during Zani's stay at Leghorn ; and of wUch^

upon his departure, the Count presented the it is to be regretted, Zani himself makes no

dissertation which he had written. The ftirther mention in his notes,
'above concluding paragraph probably relates

278 REMARKS ON SERATTTS DISSERTATION, [chap. it.

'' MOOS. This work is now preserved in the Gallery at Flo-
* rence/'

Seratti begins the above dissertation by boldly affirming, that
Finiguerra lived from 1400 to 1460, and that he was the scholar of
Masftccio ; relying upon Baldinucci alone, for Vasaii does not give
in mith information. He soon afterwards gives Baldinucci's erro-
neous account of Maso's discovery, stating, very improperly, that
Vasari and Baldinucci have so vnitten ; for, as has been already
shewn, Vasari gives no such relation* He next proceeds to observe
that these sulphurs, from their brittle nature, are ill fitted for the
purpose of throwing off impressions ; and, lastly, in consequence,
(proud and jealous of his sulphur cast,, which, with the exception of
the silver pax, he, pertiaps, wns gratified by considering as the
only specimen still existing of Maso's extraordinary tal^its) he con*
eludes that the story of his taking impressions from his engravings
on paper, is altogether unfounded. For although he admits that
he might have taken such impressions from the plate itself, adding,
that it is said the Count Durazzo possesses some fragment of that
kind, still, in what immediately follows, he evidently means it to
be inferred that he did not. He observes that, considering the
great estimation in which Finiguerra's melios were held frcNOi the
first, it is not improbable that Baldini or Botticelli, after accident
had discovered to them that engraved plates could be printed,
might copy some of them, (i. e. Finiguerra's works) for the purpose
of printing. He ends by telling us that the impressions which we
' have £ron^ works of nklio, must have been taken from plates en-
graved in the time of Baldini and Botticelli, or from such other
aigravings as by accident had remained unfinished, and conse-
quently not filled with the niello. Thus would this writer deprive
Maso of the honor due to him as the inventor of copper-plate print-
ing, to transfer it to Baldini or Botticelli : not reflecting that, when
he denied the authority of Vasari, he denied the only authority upon
which Italy rests its claims to the invention in question.

It would be labour in vain to attempt any further elucidation of

CHAP. IV.] PROBABLE INTENTION OF THE SULPHURS. 279

the process used by Finiguerra in making his casts of sulphur. It
was indeed most ingenious ; and to any one who considers the ex-
quisite delicacy of the engraved work which^ first printed with
earthy was afterwards to be transferred to the sulphur cast, with
every minute stroke of the burin — strokes finer than the finest hair
— ^perfect and entire, would appear altogether incredible, did not
the existence of the monuments themselves constrain the belief.

As to the purpose for which these sulphurs were made, Vasari is
silent. Lanzi* and Seratti have supposed them to have been the
means used by Finiguerra to ascertain the effect of his work before
he introduced the niello ; the latter of those writers adding, that he
could not introduce into the cavities of his engraving any extra-
neous matter, because it would have prevented the niello, after-
wards, from adhering properly to the silver. Both of these opinions
seem destitute of any solid foundation. To the first it may be
objected, that the sulphur of Seratti has been found exactly similar
to the silver Pcuv in its finished state, which makes greatly against
such an opinion ; and what, it may be asked, in reply to the second,
was the earth, pressed into the cavities of the engraving, prepara-
tory to the sulphur, but extraneous matter ? Seratti, however, no
doubt, meant glutinous or oleous matter*

Upon these points, Bartsch is very satisfactory. ** It is clear,**
says that writer,^ '^ that every thing advanced by Lanzi and Zani, as
to the necessity and the intention of these sulphurs, is but simple

conjecture Our experience fully convinces us that Maso,

^' when he wanted to see the effect of his work, had no occasion to
resort to any other expedient than the one employed in our days
by every engraver of copper-plates ; that of filling the strokes of
his engraving with some kind of black. It is true that this
method is not always sufficient for the engraver whose plate is
destined to throw off impressions upon white paper ; because the

£4

44
44
44

4(
44

• " Storia PiUorica,'* torn. i. p. 78. + " Le Peintre Graveur," tom. xiii.

ct seq. p. 14. eC seq.

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it

280 PROBABLE INTENTION OF THE SULPHURS, [chap. iv.

'' strokes of the burin^ when viewed upon the copper, have always
'^ an effect more or less calculated to deceive; appearing generally
'' more soft and beautiful than they shew when printed upon the
'* white paper; where the smallest faults, the most trifling irregula-
rities in the thickness or depth of the strokes, immediately strike
the eye. This ordeal, this rigid examination, was not necessary
to the worker in mello : his work was finished and perfect ; when
looked at and examined, upon the plate itself, it appeared so;
and, consequently, he had no need to assure himself of jt by
a proof printed upon paper, or any other material whatsoever.
With regard to the remark of Zani," (Bartsch should have said
Seratti) " that Maso could not introduce black, or any other extra-
neous matter, into the strokes of his engraving, as it would pre-
vent the niello from adhering properly to the silver, I have only
to say that it is wholly unfounded. It is, in fact, absolutely
impossible for any artist to prevent dirt and grease from getting
into his work during the long process of engraving a plate. This
dirt or grease being incompatible with the niello, was, therefore,
" to be removed before the niello was introduced : for this purpose
of cleansing their plates, the workers in niello used a particular
process. Thus we read in Cellini :* ' As the beauty of a work
^^ of nielio consists. in its appearing united, and free from little holes
•' or bubbles, it is necessary that the plate should be well boiled in
" clean wiater mixed with oak ashes, which operation is termed,
amongst our goldsmiths, la cenerata. Afler, therefore,' continues
Cellini, ' your plate has been boiled in these ashes for a quarter
" of an hour, it should be put into a bason filled with the purest
" water, when the engraving should be well rubbed with a small
" brush made of bristles, till the strokes are thoroughly cleansed
" from every impurity.' "

These sulphur casts, therefore, were not necessary to enable
Maso to judge of the effect of his engravings in the various stages

ti
it
ti

.<<
it

it
ti

tt
it

m it

TmtUito del Oreficeria,'' cap. ii. p. S4.

CHAP. IV.] VASART'S ACCOUNT CONSIDERED. 281

of their advancement ; besides the labour required in casting them
opposes such an idea. They were not used for the purpose of
throwing off impressions on paper ; nor were they fitted for such a
purpose. The most natural conclusion appears to he, that they
were made by Maso with great care, as interesting memorials of
works which he was soon to deliver into the hands of his em-
ployers: they might serve as objects of study and example to
his scholars, and were, perhaps, occasionally given to friends.
That they were held in very high estimation is sufficiently evi-
dent from the ponderous magnificence lavished, by their first
possessors, upon the Frames, or Tabernacles^ in which they were
enshrined.

. Upon a careful comparison of the thre^ passages which have been
given from Vasari, with each other, according to the usual mode of
examining evidence, we shall find in them every mark of candid
and fair testimony. They are found at very distant parts of that
ivriter's voluminous work, and were doubtless written at distant
periods. Each of them contains some particular in which the
others are defective ; each, at the same time, is, upon the whole,,
corroborative of the rest. There is no contradiction among them---^
no want of consistency.

In the first passage (Chap, xxxiii. of the preliminary observations
on painting) Vasari instructs us in the mode in which works of
niello were executed : he informs us that it appears from existing
monuments of gold and silver, that the ancients practised a kind of
workmanship not very dissimilar: that Maso Finiguerra was an
admirable artist in that way ; as is seen in his Paxes at S. Giovanni :
and, lastly> that from this kind of workmanship was derived the art
of engraving and printing copper-plates : '' for that, as it was cus^
*' tomary with those who worked in silver, to take the impressions
" of their engravings, before they filled them with the niello, by
means of earth, over which they poured liquefied sulphur ; so the
printers found out the method of taking off impressions from cop-
per-plates with a press, as is now used.'*

2 o

4<
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tSl VASARrS ACCOUNT CONSIDERED. [chap. iv.

It has already been observed that^ although this passage may
appear to afford but equivocal evidence of Maso*s individual pre-*
tensions, if taken singly, there is, nevertheless, reason to beUeve
that Vasari could not have been ignorant of them when he wrote it,
and, consequently, that he must have intended it as a brief record of
that artist's claims to the invention in question.

Vasari, who was bom in the year 1512, expressly tells us, in that
part of his life where he mentions the occasion of his undertaking
his great work of the Uves of the painters, sculptors, and archi-
tects, (about 1544,) that he had been accustomed from his boy*
hood to make written memoranda of whatever he was able to
collect relative to the old artists ; " every information concerning
" whom,'* says he, " I held most dear.'' In various parts of his
book he informs us that, besides the vka voce, or written information
of his friends, he was assisted by the writings of Lorenzo Ghiberti,
Domenico Ghirlandaio, and other old artists ; and at the end of his
Life of Ghiberti, he records his intimacy, when a youth of fifteen,
with Vittorio Ghiberti, the descendant of Lorenzo ; firom whom, in
the year 1528, he tells us he procured some original drawings of
Lorenzo, and of Bartoluccio, another artist of the same family, with
other designs by Giotto.

At this time Vasari intended being a goldsmith, and was studying
that art under one M anno, of whom he speaks in terms of affec-
tionate regard. The art of working in nieilo had not yet fallen
entirely into disuse ; nor is it improbable that the practice of taking
the impressions of works of that kind in sulphur, still continued, and
was practised by Manno himself It cannot be doubted that Vasari
Was accustomed to meet, at the house of his master, with the prin-
cipal artists of the same profession ; some of whom must have been
acquainted witli those who had been the contemporaries of Fin;-
guerra himself, and perhaps the witnesses of his invention : and, as
We leara from Cellini,* that in the time of his youth (an. 1515) the

* Benvenuto Cellini, <' Trattato del Oreficeria>" ediz. 1569, p* IK

CHAP. IV.] VASARrS ACCOUNT CONSIDERED. 283

old goldsmiths of Florence were never ceasing in their praise of Fini-
guerra's works of niello, we may fairly conclude that the mention of
his name would occur, not unfrequently, among those of the pro-
fession a dozen years afterwards ; and that the opening of a port>
folio of prints would occasionally give rise to a repetition of the
often told, and then well attested, story of his discovery of chalco-
graphy. It is therefore very improbable that Vasari was uninformed
of Maso's claims to that invention, until after the publication of the
first edition of his work ; and there appears, moreover, good reason
to believe that he received the account, which he has given us, from
persons of undoubted authority.

Vasari, it may be observed, speaks of the custom of taking sul-
phurs of such works in silver as were intended to be filled with
niello, as commonly practised among the goldsmiths. It is to be
regretted that he did not, at the same time, afford us some informa-
tion as to the period when works of niello were first introduced in
Florence.

The first mention of them, that I have been able to find in the
body of his work, is at the end of the Life of Spinello Aretino, where
one of that artist's sons, Forzore, is described as a goldsmith espe-
cially excelling in works of niello. This Forzore, we learn in
another place,* was the scholar of one Maestro Cione, who flourished,
we are told, about 1330. This is at all events suiHcient to carry
the art back as early as the fourteenth century ; and it is probable
that it was in use long before ; for Vasari never speaks of it as a
new art. Brunelleschi, the celebrated architect, bom 1377, was
in his youth a goldsmith, and was admired for his works of niello,
and, upon the whole, there is reason to conclude that Finiguerra
was preceded by many others who practised that mode of workman-
ship, which, perhaps, from a very early period, had constituted a
distinguished part of the employment of every goldsmith.f

* Vita d*Ag06tiiio et j^gnolo, Scultori f Mr. Bartsch informs us (Peintre Gra-
Sanesi. veur, torn, xiii, pp. 2. 36.) upon tbe audMH

2 O 2

«84 VASARPS ACCOUNT CONSIDERED. [chap, iv.

That Vasari was silent respecting so many of these artists, amounts
only to this; that he did not think their productions called for especial
notice ; and it is probable that even Finiguerra himself, notwith-
standing his great excellence in the above-mentioned art, and his pre-
tensions as a draftsman and a sculptor, would have been despatched
with the short eulogium bestowed on him in the Life of Pollajuolo,
(an eulogium which is soon afterwards insidiously made the occasion
of heaping greater honours on PoUajuolo at M aso's expense,) but
for his discovery of Chalcography. Nay, perhaps, but for that
discovery, works of niello, which gave rise to it, would scarcely
have obtained a mention. As for Baccio Baldini, his name but
once appears ; and his prints, now so much sought after by collec-
tors, are got rid of in a single line, without a description of even one
of them.

The reason for all this is to be found in the prodigious number of
artists of every denomination, with which all Tuscany, but espe-
cially Florence, abounded, even as early as the commencement of
the fourteenth century ; a number so great, that had Vasari mi-
nutely described the works of each individual, his writings must
have been extended to at least four times their present bulk ; to say
nothing of the professors of painting, sculpture, and architecture,
who flourished from that period, to the time in which he wrot^
throughout every state of Italy.

Working in niello was, therefore, practised in Florence, and,
perhaps, in most other parts of Italy, long before Maso distin-
guished himself; and it was, we are told, the custom of those who
exercised that art, to take sulphur casts from their engravings, pre-
vious to filling them with the niello.

rity of Lessing (Collectaneen zur Litteratur. for the practice of that art, lo his vroA

torn. xii. article Niellum) that the art of entitled : Diversarum artium $chedula. The

working in niello was practised in France as work of Theophilus, he informs us, was

early as the seventh century. He adds, that published, for the first time, by Christian

Tkeophilm monachtUp who lived in the Leiste, after a MS. in the libraiy at Wolfen-

twelfth centory, lias left detailed instructions buttel.

CHAP. IV.] VASARrS ACCOUNT CONSIDERED. 285

if
44

From this practice/' says Vasari, ^' the art of engraving and
printing copper-plates was derived." Now the only reasonable
interpretation to be given of this sentence . is, that some one of
those who were accustomed to make these sulphurs, as memorials
of their works on silver, discovered by accident — for almost all
great discoveries have been made by accident — ^that impressions
could also be taken from engraved plates on damped paper.
Vasari's concluding words are, it is true, '* so the printers" (that is
the printers of copper-plates) " found out the method of taking off
'* impressions from engravings on copper, with a press, as is now the
*' custom:" but these words, if indeed they are any. other than a
mere antithesis, can only mean, that the method of taking off im-
pressions from engraved plates by means of a common roller, or
other imperfect instrument, having been discovered, they — ^the
printers — ^improved and perfected the apparatus necessary for such
a purpose : for until the mode of printing engraved plates was dis-
covered, there could be no persons whose occupation it was to print
them; and, indeed, until afler the discovery was made known,
no engraved plates left the work-she^ of the goldsmith unless when
filled with niello, and, consequently, not in a state admitting of such
an operation. Besides, we have no evidence that Finiguerra him-
self did not become a printer of copper-plate engravings ; and the
expression '^ so the printers," &c. may, therefore, refer to him and
his immediate followers.

The person who made the discovery must, according to all fair
hypotheses, have been a goldsmith. Such, Vasari informs us, in the
introduction to his life of Marc Antonio, was really the case, and
that that goldsmith was Maso Finiguerra.

We are there expressly told, that, '' the art of engraving and print-
ing copper-plates, (dell* intagliare le stampe) had its beginning
with Maso Finiguerra, or came from Finiguerra, (venne da Maso
Finiguerra) about the year 1460: for that that artist made sulphur
casts of all the things that he engraved in silver, which were in-
tended to be filled with niello, before he introduced the nieUo ;

^M FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING. [chap. iv.

that he also took impressions from his engravings with a tint made
of soot and oil^ upon damped paper> by means of a wooden roller
which he pressed over it : and lastly, that the impressions so produced
iooked like drawings done with a pen/' Vasari then proceeds to
inform us, that Finiguerra was followed in the practice of engraving
and taking impressions from his plates on paper by Baccio Baldini ;
that afterwards the secret became known to Mantegna, at Rome ;
that it also found its way into Germany, and so forth.

To the question — ^when did Maso make this discovery ? it may
be no easy matter to give an answer. For it is, I think, evident,
that the year 1460, or thereabouts, from which Vasari dates the
commencement of chalcography ('' il principio deir intagliare le
stampe*') does not refer to the period at which he supposed Maso to
have first discovered the mode of taking impressions of his en-
gravings on silver by means of a roller, but to the epoch when
engravings on copper, or other metals, began to be executed
and used for the common purposes of printing and publication.
Some of the Italian writers, indeed, insist, that what is said
by Vasari of his taking impressions of all the things that he en*
graved in diver, previously to his filling them with melio, is not
<mly to be taken literally, but that it is to be considered as applying
equally to his practice in both the methods above described ; the
sulphur and the paper : thus Lanzi observes : ^' that as it appears
" from the books of the Arte de' Mercante, that, in 1452, he re-
'' ceived payment for his pax in the Church of S. Giovanni, and as
'^ he was then a master of experienced abilities, and thoroughly
practised in his art, it is fair to suppose, with Gaburri and Ura-
boschi, that as he ' made proois of all the works that he engraved
in silver,' (tutte le cosi che intaglio in argento) he must have
used that mode from 1440, or, perhaps, a few years before; and
" here, therefore,'* says he, " we have the beginnings of chqlco-
" graphy in Florence, very clearly deducible from history.''*

• " Storia Pittorica,'' torn. i. p. 87.

CHAP. ivO MASO FINIGUERRA. i«t

This mode af reasoning may not, perhaps, entirely satisfy the
reader ; for although Vasari asserts that Maso took impressions of
all his works in silver — ^that assertion, even allowing it in its foil
extent, appears to refer to the impressions taken with earth and
sulphur only ; he does not say that he took impressions of all his
works of silver on damped paper. The former mode, as we before
observed, was doubtless practised by goldsmiths who preceded him :
the latter was discovered by himself, accidentally, in the course
of the varied operations which his profession required : for to infer
otherwise, would be to suppose either that he possessed this art in-^
tuitively firom his birth, or that he had been taught it by some
one who practised it before him : the first an absurdity ; the second
in opposition to history, as well as to ail other evidence of which
we are possessed ; since we find no traces of such a practice, either
in Florence or in any other part of Europe, previous to the time
in which Finiguerra flourished.

It seems probable, nevertheless, that the Italian writers, in placing
Finiguerra's discovery a few years prior to 1440, are not far from the
truth ; and our reasons for such an opinion will the better appear,
when we have collected together the few circumstances of his
life which are on record, and accompanied them with such an
examination of the style of his works, as may fornish a reasonable
ground of conjecture as to the period wh^n he flourished, and the
school from which he derived his professional education.

Could we place implicit trust in Baldinucci, we should need little
other information as to the last of these particulars.

" At the time when the celebrated Masaccio lived in Florence,'*
«ays that writer, " teaching the true method of painting, many
^' artists, benefiting by his instructions and by the imitation of his
" works, became excellent One of these was Tommaso, called
Maso Finiguerra, a Florentine goldsmith, who designed with a
pen and acquarella so admirably, that his drawings are, perhaps,
not inferior to those of any artist of that period. Indeed I my-
self can testify that he drew a great deal, as the designs by his

€4

41
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28fr FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING. [chap. iv.

" hand, which were in the collection formed by the late Cardinal
'* Leopold, of Tuscany, were, of themselves, extremely numerous ;
" and the best of them, in every respect, so like those of Masaccio^
'^ that I have no hesitation in affirming, although I have not found
it recorded by any writer whatever, that he was the disciple of
that great artist, by whom, indeed, all those who began to dis-
tinguish themselves at that early period, were directed in the true
principles of art/'*
These drawings of Maso, now in the ducal collection at Florence
I have seen,f and think them well deserving the character Baldi-
nucci has given of them. They are principally studies of single
figures, designed with a pen upon white paper, and slightly shaded
with bistre or Indian ink ; and they possess, in an eminent degree^
that correctness of outline, and simplicity of manner, which espe-
cially characterize the works of. Masaccio; qualities which, after
the middle of the fifteenth century, were too oflen bartered, by the
artists of Florence, for a style of less purity ; particularly in their
draperies, which were frequently perplexed with small and artificial
folds, and trivial ornaments, and assumed an air of flutter, very
unlike the tranquil dignity observable in those of that justly
esteemed master.

From the great resemblance of style amongst so many of the Flo-
rentine artists who lived at the same time, however, this sort of
argument cannot be deemed sufficient to support Baldinucci's hy-
pothesis, as to the identical master by whom Maso was instructed ;
although it may go a good way, especially when aided by other
evidence, in enabling us to determine to what epoch of the Floren-

* BaUinucci, ** Notizie de' professori del particular, is, be says, '' superbly drawn.''

dis^no,'' &c. torn. iv. pp. 1-2. Each of these drawings, be adds, is marked at

f Zani, wbo bas examined them more re- bottom with a sort of stiar, or asterisk ;

cently, informs us, Q^ Materiali,^ &c. p. 118, which, he is of opinion, was added, not by

note 33) that they are about fifty-six in num* Finiguerra himself, but by some ancient pro-

ber, and that some of them represent the prietor of the drawings,
figures of eagles; one amongst whicb^ in

CHAP. IVJ

MASO FINIGUERRA.

289

tine school he properly appertains, and the probable period of his
initiation.

We learn from a letter of Baccio Bandinelli, that Finiguerra was
one of those artists who assisted Lorenzo Ghiberti in finishing the
celebrated bronze gates of the Baptistry at Florence ; a circum-
stance which, although omitted by Vasari, is, nevertheless, not in
opposition to his testimony. Vasari relates, that '* Lorenzo was
assisted in the labour of finishing those gates with chiselled
work, afler the operation of casting them in metal, by many
young men, who aflerwards became excellent masters : viz. — ^by
Filippo Brunelleschi, Masolino da Panicale, Nicolo Lamberti,
goldsmiths ; Parri Spinelli, Antonio Filareto, Paolo Uccelloi,
Antonio del PoUajuolo, who was then a very young lad, and by
many others.'* Bandinelli's mention of Maso is highly credit-
able to him, as it classes him with some of the best painters and
sculptors of the fifteenth century ; and it is remarkable, that he
appears at the head of the list. *' One of these,*' says he, *' was
" Maso Finiguerra, another was Desiderio'* (da Setignano ;) " be-
*^ sides whom there were Piero and Antonio del PoUajuolo, and
** Andrea del Verrocchio ; all of them celebrated artists in painting
** and sculpture/' *

It is proper, however, in this place to observe, that Gbiiherti
executed two pair of folding-gates of bronze for the Baptistry.
The first of these, representing, in small compartments, stories of

€€

* ** Lettere Bulla Pittura,* &c. torn. i.
pp. 74. 75. Bacdo Bandinelli addreaaed
this letter to his friend, the Majordamo of
the grand doke, upon the occasion of its
being iu contemplation to employ him, in
company with Benvenuto Cellini, to make
certain basri-relievi of bronze for the choir
of the Dupmo. He speaks of Cellini as of
one ignorant of design, and only fitted to
assist in the execution of the inventions of
others. After naming Finiguerra, and the

other old artists mentioned in die text, be
affirms, that ten artists like Benvenuto would
not be equivalent to one of their fingers.
The severity of this censure was dictated by
Baccio's hatred of Cellini, who certably did
not merit to be ranked so low. Baccio,
however, could have no interest in praising
Maso, and the testimony of so great an artist,
as to his talents, at once places him m a rank
very distinct from that of the ordinary gold^
smiths.

2 P

290 FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. ir.

the New Testament, was begun about 1407, and finished in 1424 :
the other, and most celebrated, with larger compartments from the
Old Testament, was still in hand as late as 1445.* The informa-
tion, therefore, contained in Baccio's letter, leaves the precise period,
when Maso was employed as assistant in these works, still conjec-
tural. But from the circumstance of his being named before
Desiderio, who was one of the scholars of Donatello, and died
with the reputation of a great sculptor, at the age of twenty-eight,
it seems reasonable to give him the seniority ; and it is probable
that Desiderio was bom early in the fifteenth century.f

Vasari's mention of Maso, in the beginning of the life of Antonio
del PoUajuolo, has already been noticed. Antonio is there described
as a person who, by the force of a powerfiil genius, joined to his un-
remitting diligence in designing from nature, and modelling figures
in relief, had, at a very early age, acquired such skill in his profes-
sion of goldsmith, as to be able to enter the list with '* Maso Fini-
«' guerra, a goldsmith, who at that time enjoyed a very great repu-
^ tation ; of which indeed he was well deserving, as there never
** had been known any artist who, in works of the burin, finished
^* with niello, could compose and execute such a prodigious number
" of figures in a small space, as he did.'*

This competition between Maso and Antonio took place about
1450 ; at which time, it will not be too much to suppose the
former, whose fame was then at its height, to have been forty years
of age ; PoUajuolo, his rival, being twenty-four : a conclusion
which, if admitted, places the birth of Maso Finiguerra about 1410 :
and indeed, as well from the above considerations as from the style

* Zani, ** MuteriaKy'' 6ic. p. ] 18, note 34. however, upon the whole, that we are justi-

*^ It 18 difficult to discover, either from fied in placing Desiderio earlier tlian the

Vasari or Baldinucci, the exact period at PoUajuoli; more especially as his life pre*

which Desiderio lived : for it appears certain cedes their's in Vasari's work, which is ar»

that there is a considerable error of date in ranged chroaologically.
die account of the former writer. I think,

CHAP, ivj MASO FINIGUERRA. SOI

and character of his works, there appears reason to believe that he
was bom earlier than that period, rather than later.

His father was, in all likelihood, the same person respecting
whom Manni found an authentic document stating him to have
been dead before 1426;* a document which he erroneously con*
sidered as regarding the son. That he likewise was a goldsmith, is
a conjecture not unreasonable, though unsupported by evidence.

The masters of Maso were doubtless men of the same professi(Hi»
in which he afterwards attained so much eminence ; namely, gold*
smiths and sculptors in bronze and other metals : for the term
sculptor, under which Finiguerra was designated by fiandinelli, is
surely not improperly applied to the artist who, after he had
modelled his statue or his basso-relievo in clay or wax, and cast it
in metal, had only performed half his task ; it stiU remaining for
him to put the last finish to his work — ^1 those exquisite touches
which give value to the productions of a master, by the tedious
operation of the file and the chisel. But why should we search
further for Maso's preceptors in the art, after we have seen him
assisting in the school of Ghiberti, the most consummate artist
in works of bronze and other metals, that Florence or the fifi^eenth
century could boast ; whose gates at the Baptistry were deemed by
Michelangiolo not unworthy to be the gates of Paradise ;f a mart^r^
in whose study so large a proportion of the Florentine youth, during
forty years, imbibed those principles of art which afl^rwairds proved
unerring guides to them in the pursuit of excellence in the various
professions of painting, sculpture, and architecture ?

In this community of young artists, Maso was obliged assiduously
to exert himself, that his improvement might keep pace with that
of his companions. Moreover, the fi^scoe^ in the chapel at the
church of the Carmine, which Massolino da Panicale, cut off in
the flower of youth, about 1418, left scarcely begun, though begun

* Baldinucci, '' Notizie/' &c. torn. iv. f Vasari, Vita di Lorenzi Ghiberti.
p. 1 . Nota del Manni.

2 P 2

292 FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. tv.

ii^ith promise, had been allotted to Masaccio ;* and Florence soon
witnessed a style of art very unlike any thing that had been
seen before ; a purity and correctness of outline, a mellowness of
colouring, and a perfection of imitation, especially in the h^uis
of the figures, to which painting, it is probable, had hitherto been
considered absolutely inadequate.

Among those who, in the hours of leisure, flocked to design in
this Chapel, Finiguerra was certainly one of the most constant in
his attendance ; and, indeed, as Baldinucci observes, he so entirely
possessed himself of the style of Masiaccio, that he appears in his
designs as if guided by the spirit of that great artist.

Finiguerra, therefore, although not the disciple of Masaccio, who
was a professor of painting only, and consequently unfitted to teach
the processes employed in other arts, may properly be classed
among those artists who, immediately struck with the perfection of
the new system of art which Masaccio had just then introduced,
made it, ever after, the model of his imitation, and the foundation
of his practice. For although the arts he professed, required, in
the exercise of them, a n^echanism and process very different from
painting ; still, painting and sculpture being, both of them, governed
by the same great fundamental principles of design, many of the
beauties which were displayed by Masaccio in productions of the
one art, were found applicable to the other; insomuch, indeed,
that Vasari assures us that the painters and sculptors of the time,
alike, benefited by the study of Masaccio's frescoes. Besides, work-
ing in niello was, in its eflFect, similar to painting, except that it
admitted not of colouring.

Of Maso's works in silver, none are now known excepting the
Pax of *' the Assumption," in the Church of S. Giovanni, finished
in 1452, and already so oilen mentioned. For although Baldi-

^ There is no small confusion with respect has taken pains to correct the oversights of
to dates in Vasari's accounts of Massolino Vasari in such matters, and not unfrequently
and Masaccio. I follow Baldinucci^ who with sticcess.

GHAF. iv,] MASO FINIGUERRA. 208

nucci tells us that some of the bassi-relievi of the history of S, John
the Baptist, which decorate the magnificent altar of massy silver in
the same church, were executed by him, in competition with An-
tonio Pollajuolo, the learned Gori* appears to have found no notice
of such a circumstance in the records of the time : and we may,
therefore, conclude that Baldinucci had no other authority than his
own arbitrary construction of the words of Vasari, who, after noticing
a trial of skill between Maso and Antonio, in which, says he, "Antonio
" equalled his rival in diligence, and surpassed him in design," pro-
ceeds to inform us, that Pollajuolo (not Finiguerra) was, in conse-
quence, employed to execute some of the silver bassi-relievi on the
said altar.

As consistently with the duty of impartiality, we have found it
necessary to record this sentence, apparently so little to the credit
of Maso Finiguerra, we ought not to omit to soften its severity, by
apprising the reader that it would be no difficult task to produce
isimilar passages, in which Vasari, out of pure zeal for the artist
whose life he is then writing, who, for the time being, commonly
appears the beloved of his heart, has exalted him above his neigh-
bours, of claims at least equal; these last being treated by him
with a like courtesy when it comes to their turn. As a designer
of naked figures, Pollajuolo probably became, in the end, superior
to Maso ; whose works, being generally on a small scale, did not
require nor even admit of the display of those anatomical details
upon which the former set so high a value; and which, in the
eyes of a Florentine painter of the middle of the sixteenth century,
such as Vasari was, could not but appear paramount to every other
consideration. But Maso, on the other hand, possessed a delicacy
of feeling to which Pollajuolo was ever a stranger : joined, as has
been before said, to. a purity of style, of which too many of the
Florentine artists of the latter part of the fifteenth century lost sight
in the pursuit of firivolous variety and capricious ornament

* '^ Thesaurus Veteruin Diptychorum,'' torn. iii. p. 310; tt seq.

FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. iv.

Notwithstanding the positive testimony of Vasari in favour of
Finiguerra, the honour of the invention of chalcography was long
disputed with the Italians by the writers of other nations. It was
insisted, by the adverse party, that, from the known inaccurades*
of the Aretine biographer, his authority, unsupported by other evi*
dence, could not be deemed conclusive ; and, it was urged, that no
print bearing the name or cypher of Maso Finiguerra could be found ;
whereas Germany produced many engravings, the dates upon which
bore witness to their high antiquity.

Thus the celebrated connoisseur Pierre Jean Mariette, when
writing from Paris to his friend the Cav. Gaburri at Florence, after
other inquiries relative to art, puts the following questions concern*
ing Finiguerra : — ** I wish also to receive from you some informa*-
tion respecting the invention of copper-plate engraving, and
whether or not it was really discovered in Florence by means
** of Maso Finiguerra : for that which Vasari asserts does not
appear to me to be sufficiently proved ; as we see prints by the
old masters of Germany with dates anterior to all the prints
engraved in Italy which I have hitherto seen.f In fact I have
not yet seen any print, either by the said Maso, or by Baccio
Baldini. I have seen two or three by Pollajuolo, and many by
Mantegna. It will be necessary to see some of those of Maso,
before we can decide who was the inventor. For the present I
have a strong prejudice against him. Do me therefore the fiaivour

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* Whai die grett eiteot of Vasari's work
is considered, and when it is remembered
that be bad not tbe advantage of being pre-
ceded by any one who wrote eipressly upon
the same subject, the verity of his account, in
almost all matters of consequence, becomes
rather a subject for our praise, than his oc*
casional incorrectness, in facts of smaller im*
port, is for our animadversion. Excessive
partiality to the painters of Tuscany is an-
other crime of which the Aretine biographer

has been accused by the writers of other states
of Italy. But it ought to be remembered that
an author naturally dwells most upon those
circumstances with which he is best acquaint-
ed ; ,and his accusers may be reminded that
they are indebted to his industry for the little
information they possess of many ancient
artists of their own provinces.

f Mariette ought to have said '' which I
have hitherto recognuEed."

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CHAP. IV.] MASO FINIGUERRA. 295

'^ to tell me if you have seen any print by him ; since it is impossible
** that such things should not be found at Florence where he
** worked. I cannot at all understand Vasari in that part where
he relates the manner of the discovery. You will oblige me very
much by assisting me to render that passage of his book more
intelligible.*'* In another letter to the same gentleman, dated
Jan. 1732, he says, ** I am better informed than any one as to the
rich collection of prints made by the Prince Eugene, since I
arranged and made an ample catalogue of them. There is cer*
tainly nothing among them by Maso Finiguerra; nor in the
collection of the king, which is an extremely fine one, and,
especially, rich in prints engraved by the ancient masters*

I know, indeed, of one print, representing Hercules killing the
serpent, upon which are these letters, 1. F. T.,f which, taken the
reverse way, might be read thus, — ^Thomas Finiguerra incidit;
but I am not satisfied with such a conjecture ; whereas I have
prints by old German masters, very well known, with very
ancient dates, concerning the authenticity of which there is no
doubt In the mean time I will suspend my judgment, and shall
be most happy if, in the ancient collections of prints of which
you tell me, you happen to meet with something certain, that may
oppose my opinion, and confirm the assertion of Vasari.''^
In Oct. 1732, Gaburri writes fi^om Florence a very long letter in
answer to Mariette's numerous inquiries. What he says upon the
subject in question is as follows : — *^ The delay of my letter is in
consequence of my most earnest desire to give you a decided
answer to the various questions which, at different periods, you
** have done me the honour of putting to me concerning our Maso
'^ Finiguerra of Florence, the inventor of copper-plate engraving,

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* *' Lettere sulla Pittora," &c. torn. ii. print in a subsequent page,
pp. 230. 231. % '< Lettere sulla Pitthra,'' torn. ii. pp.

f Further mention will be made of this 203. 964.

296 FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. iv.

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according to the attestations of Vasari and Filippo* Baldinucci ;
which opinion is likewise confirmed by the senator Bonarroti, in
his prefiice to the observations upon the large medals in the
Museum of the Cardinal Carpegna.* I have then to inform you
thaty without exaggeration, I have rummaged all Florence, hoping
to have the good fortune to discover at least one print bearing
*' the name or the cypher of that artist. But, after having in vain
" searched the Museums of the Gaddi, the Niccolini, the Giraldi,
^^ and Covoni families, besides many other smaller collections be-
'' longing to private persons, which I was also determined to examine
^^ for the same purpose, I have at last given the matter up in despair ;
'' and all that I have been able to do, has been to get a drawing made
*' for you of one of the two Paxes which exist in our most ancient
'* church of S. Gio. Battista, where is the Baptismal Font. Of
'^ these Pases Vasari makes mention, and also Filippo Baldinucci,
*' who speaks of them in the Pre£3ice to his treatise upon engraving
** in copper. They are not however both of them the work of
'^ ,Maso Finigiierra ; one of them having been made by Matteo di
'' Giovanni Dei, who was also a goldsmith ; which latter I do not
" send you, but only the other, which alone is by the said Fini-
" guerra.

•* On the back of the drawing you will find written the name of
" the author; and, besides this, I send with it every document
'* respecting these Paxes ; which information is contained in the
" ^archives of S. Giovanni, and has been kindly communicated to
me by the very learned Doctor Anton. Francesco Gori, a most
worthy priest, who has published works of profound erudition.
" From these documents you may at least learn the exact epoch of
time in which the works they refer to were executed ; and thence
draw the conclusion, that from Finiguerra's practice of working
in niello, which was about 1450, (though we may suppose the dis-

* In the passage already referred to at the beginning of this Chapter.

tt
tt

tt
tt
tt

CHAP. !▼.] MASO FINIGUERRA. 297

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covery to have taken place a few years before,) the art of chalco-
graphy had its origin, conformably to what is said by the before*
'^ mentioned writers. Certain it is, that I cannot believe the prints
which are in the Dante, printed by Niccolo della Magna, to
be the works of Finiguerra; first, because Vasari opposes
such an idea, attributing them to the hand of Sandro Botti-
celli ; and secondly, because, if they had been engraved by
'' Maso. in that first manner, and printed by the hand with a
'^ common roller upon damped paper, they would have a more
'' rude and barbarous appearance. And, indeed, to be con-
*^ finned in the persuasion that the prints in the said Dante, are
really by Sandro Botticelli, it is sufficient to confront the
little figures in those prints, with the figures which are painted
'^ by him in the altar-picture of the chapel of the noble family
*^ Palmieri ; the descendants of the famous Matteo Palmieri, who, to-
gether with his wife, is pourtrayed in the picture ; both on their
knees. Upon an examination of the above-mentioned picture,
which is in the church of S. Pier Maggiore, in this city, we im-
niediately discover, in every part, a manner corresponding to the
said prints. It is, indeed, true, that the deceased Sig. Abate
Antonmaria Salvini asserted, as a thing most certain, that there
was a Dante with figures by Maso Finiguerra, and I am told
the same, as well by Sig. Gaetano Bernestadt, as by Sig. Dottor
'^ Biscioni, who say they have often heard it asserted. Indeed, I pos-
*^ sess, in my own collection, a few prints belonging to the different
*' cantos of the Commedia of Dante, which are, in every respect,
(in tutto e per tutto) different from those which are said to be, and
really are by Sandro Botticelli ; but they have neither name,
cypher, nor date, and as they are in a manner extremely rude
and bad, they may, perhaps, be those which belong to the im-
" pression of Dante mentioned by Salvini."* What this edition
of Dante is, of which Gaburri here speaks, I know not ; but I

♦ « Lettere sulla Pittura/' 8cc. torn. ii. pp. 367. 368.

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3M. FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. iy.

suppose, with Lanzi,* that the prints he describes as being in his
own collection, and so inferior to those which are found at the two
first cantos of the edition of 1481, were no other than the additional
prints which, in some copies of that edition, are found pasted at the
heads of the third and following cantos.

In this research we find Mariette expecting, that to satisfy his
doubts on the subject, his fiiend should discover a print, bearing
the name or cypher of Maso Finiguerra. A little consideration
ought to have made him sensible that such an expectation was most
unwarrantable. He states that he had seen many engravings by
Andrea Mantegna : had he seen one with the name or cypher of
that artist ? No : it was by his knowledge of Andrea's manner,
acquired firom his drawings and pictures, and, perhaps, still more from
the general notoriety of that artist's prints, that he distinguished them*
He had seen two or three by PoUajuolo : one print, indeed, by that
artist, bears his name at length ; all the others, which are supposed
to be by him, that I know of, are without either name or cypher.
He tells Gaburri that he had seen no prints by Baldini, whose works
are believed to be very numerous, (and, of course, some of them
were in the two great collections which he named) because he found
none with the name or initials of that artist ; and not mentioning
Sandro Botticelli, we may suppose that he had not seen, or had not
recognised, any by that master, although he might have learned
firom Vasari's life of Botticelli, that the plates in the Dante of 1481,
a work which, as it is not of extreme rarity, must have been in
the King of France's library, were engraved by Sandro's own
hand.

Gaburri, on the other hand, in his search aft;er Finiguerra's prints,
appears to have been wholly unmindfiil of the character which
Vasari gave of that artist; and forgetting that he, as well as others,

* Storia Pittorica, torn. i. p. 83. Lanzi first vignettes only are by Botticelli. I shal|

was of opinion that these additional prints examine into the propriety of this opinion,

were executed by an artist of inferior abilities when I come to speak of Botticelli,
after the book was printed, and that tlie two

CHAP. lY.] MASO FINIGUERRA. 299

might have acquired great skill in the management of the burin,
long before the art of taking the impressions of engraved plates on
paper was even thought of, seems, in the general rummage which
he instituted at Florence, to have expected to find productions
designed and ^igraved in a very rude and barbarous taiste, as well
as badly printed ; and probably, in his hurry, with such an impres-
sion upon his mind, passed over the very monuments he was
looking for*

It never occurred to him that he might answer the objections of
his correspondent, by observing that very few of the most ancient en-
gravers of Italy marked their plates with cyphers or monograms ; and
that among the numerous prints of the early Florentine engravers, in
particular, one only, by Antonio PoUajuolo, bears the name of its
author. As to the pretended attestation of Baldinucci, and the
confirmation of Finiguerra's claims by Bonarroti, Mariette was suf-
iiciently well read upon the subject, to know that the one and th^
other had no other evidence in support of their assertions or opi-
nions, than the account given by Vasari ; and that, consequently^
the whole question still rested upon the credibility of Vasari alone,
in a matter wherein the ancient dates upon several engravings
executed in Germany or the Low Countries, appeared to furnish
a reasonable ground for doubt.

Mariette, therefore, remained of his first opinion, notwithstanding
that, it is now ascertained, an undoubted impression by Finiguerra
was under his own key ; and some of the writers of Italy* them-
selves, began to fear that the pretensions of their country to the
invention of chalcography, rested upon a very precarious founda-
tion ; whilst others framed the improbable hypothesis, that the art
was discovered in Germany and in Italy, about 1460, by two
artists, who were each ignorant of the other's good fortune.

The Baron Heineken, one would imagine, had never read the

* Particularly BoUarif although himself '^ rica,** torn. i. p. 87*
i| Flor^tine. — ^Vide Lanzi, " Storia Pitto*

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300 IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS [chap. iv.

passage relative to Finiguerra, in Vasari's life of Pollajuolo, or the
just eulogium passed upon him in Baldinucci, when he treated him
as a common goldsmith, from whom nothing was to be expected
but pieces of foliage and grotesques. After speaking of the failure
of Gaburri and Mariette in their attempts to discover M aso's prints,
he says : " It is, nevertheless, stiill probable that, among the quan-
^' tity of ancient prints of foliage and grotesques, engraved, most
" certainly, by the Italian goldsmiths, there may be some of the
*' productions of this artist. Indeed there are two little pieces of
*' this kind, which are marked MF. and are in a style of engraving
quite distinct from that of Marc Antonio; insomuch, that we
may suppose the cypher to signify Maso Finiguerra. I must, at the
same time, however, confess that it is a inere conjecture.*'*
Our countryman, Strutt, copied, as not improbably a production
of Maso's burin, a small print, then in the collection of Dr. Monroe;
in which is represented, on the right, a naked figure of Hercules
supporting the universe, and, on the left, an old man seated at a
table, and, apparently, employed in engraving on a minute circular
plate. ,0n the table, Mr. Strutt discovered something resembling
the initial letter F. The identity of this letter F, however, is,
at best, doubtful, and it is now ascertained that the print in
question-f is one of several engravings, which were executed in
the same rude manner, by an artist who, if we can credit Bartsch,^
lived as late as I5I5 ; and who, perhaps, adopted a mode of en-
graving which had then gone out of fashion, with the intention
of deceiving the connoisseurs of his day; as Goltzius, it is well
known, did, with success, in later times. Certain it is, that his
prints bear the appearance of great antiquity.

It is not a great many years since a discovery was made, which,
although it did not go the length of confirming Finiguerra's title to

^ '' Id6e G^D^rale," p. 140. British Museum. They will be spoken of id

f This print, with several others by the a subsequent page,
same artist, is now in the collection of the {'*PeintreGraveur/^tom.xiii.p.408,etseq.

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CHAF. IV.] OF NIELLO DISCOVERED. 30t

the invention in question, was, nevertheless, upon the whole, very
much calculated to strengthen the authority of Vasari ; since, from
the peculiarity attending it, it could not but be allowed to be a
strong presumptive evidence that that author did not write merely
from hearsay, but that he himself had seen proofs of works of
nieUos on paper, ascribed to Finiguerra. '^ Sig. Antonio Armano>
of Bologna,'' says Lanzi, " a very great judge of prints, was led
to suspect, from the words of Vasari, that these proofs might be
confounded with pen-drawings : he searched for them in many
collections of designs, and found several proofs of works of niello,
by anonymous goldsmiths of the fifteenth century.* These
*' curious specimens are now preserved in the very interesting col-
lection of early prints which was formed by the late Count Gia-
como Durazzo, formerly the Imperial Ambassador at Venice>
** and which has since devolved to his nephew, the Marquis
" Girolamo.

Many of these," continues the same writer, ^ came out of the
ancient collection of the Gaddif family, at Florence ; and are by
artists inferior to Finiguerra, excepting two, which do not seem
unworthy of his burin. To them were afterwards added not a
few by artists of other schools of Italy. Their origin is sometimes
discovered by their style of design ; sometimes, with more cer*
tainty, by inscriptions, or other unequivocal marks. Upon one
^* of them, representing a nativity, for example, we read, in cha-
" racters the reverse way, * Dominus Philippus Stancharius fieri
fedt;* where the fisimily named, added to other circumstances,
indicates Bologna. A small print represents a woman who is
^* turned towards a cat, and has this inscription, likewise in cha-

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* I have, myself, indeed, more tkao once, mastere. Many interesting letters addressed

heard Armano relate the story. to him upon the subject of his collections in

t The Cav. Gaddi was one of the first this way, by the different agents whom he em-

noblemen of Italy, who possessed a proper ployed to make purchases for him, are to be

relish for the original designs of the great found in the ^' Lettere suUa Pittura,** &c.

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S02 IMPRES^SIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO, [chap. iv.

^' racters reversed, vain la Caneva ; and on another we read, Mati^
^' tengave Dio ; both Lombard or Venetian, as the dialect evinces.
^* From all this we may argue, that the words of Vasari, in which
" he ascribes to Finiguerra the practice of proving his works before
'^ he filled the engraved cavities with nieUo, cannot be limited to
him only, or to his school. It, indeed, appears that that mode
was used by Caradosso* (of Milan) and other excellent artists of
Italy, as a very important part of their art ; and that they likewise
were directed by these proofs, and not by chance, in the finishing
*' of their works of nieUo. Nor will it be enough to oppose the
^* silence of Vasari as to this point. That he was not sufficiently ac-
quainted with the history of the Venetian and Lombard artists
has been oflen, with justice, objected to him; and if he wasi
*' thus uninformed relative to their painting, how much more
may we suppose him to have been ignorant of their engraving.

The proofs therefore of the workers in niello,'* continues Lanzi,
are found in all parts of Italy, and are especially known by the
''' direction of the inscriptions upon them, which, being written from
left to right in the original plates, appear in the impressions, as in
oriental writings, from right to lefl ; and in the same manner the
'^ other parts of the print are reversed. There are likewise other
" marks by which they are to be distinguished. Being printed
'^ with the hand, or with a roller, they have no mark of the plate ;
^' nor must we expect to find in them that precision and clearness
'^ in the strokes, which the press afterwards gave to the impressions
'^ of engravings. They are also distinguished by the tint with which
'* they are printed, which was generally soot mixed with oil, or
'* some other very light colour:" but this and the last are very
uncertain characteristics, being indeed generally applicable to the
very early impressions of the most ancient Italian engravings, which

* Camdosso is briefly mentioned by Vasari, give us bis authority for the assertion, that he
in the life of Bramante, and appears to have was accustomed to take the impressions of
flourished about 1500. Lanzi has omitted to his Works of niello.

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CHAP. IV.] IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. S03

were taken off before a proper press and good printing ink were
discovered. '' It has been conjectured that the silversmiths were
likewise accustomed to make similar proofs even of their works
a graffito, and others in which niello was not used. Be this as it
may^ these proofs from their works were preserved in their
studies, and in those of their scholars, to whom they might serve
as models ; and by these means some of them have remained to
our days/'*

But although the practice of proving their works of nieUo appears
to have been common among the Italian goldsmiths of the iif*
teenth century; still, among the proofs which have been found,
none, according to Lanzi, seem to have pretensions to an antiquity
higher than 1440, about which period it is contended that Maso
Finiguerra discovered the method of taking impressions from his
engravings in silver. The opinion of Lanzi upon this subject is
chiefly grounded upon the inscriptions found upon many of these
proo&, which are always in Roman letters, whereas those characters
did not, he says, return into general use in Italy until about that
epoch. Nor is the barbarous taste of several of them a proof of
their more remote antiquity. " There are, it is true,*' says that
excellent writer, among those in the Durazzo Collection, *^ proofs
of nieUo of a style of design more rude than that of Maso, and
perhaps of schools distinct from the Florentine : but, because more
rude, are they, on that account, more ancient? Maso, and the
^^ Florentine artists who succeeded Masaccio, had, in 1440, already
" improved their style : but can we say the same of other schools ?
** Besides, are we sure that the silversmiths, from whom these
proofs came, selected the designs of the best masters ; and that the
Bolognese, for example, did not copy a Pieta of Jacopo Avanzi ;
the Venetians, a Madonna of Jacobello del Fiore ? The more dry,
the more rude, or the more ugly, cannot therefore be brought
against Finiguerra as a proof of more remote antiquity : else we

■

* Lanzi, << Storia Pittorica," torn. i. pp. 79- 80. 81.

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U
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304 IMPRESSION SUPPOSED TO BE BY [chaf. iv.

« should fell into the entertaining sophism of Michele Scalza, who
^ affirmed that the Baronci * were the most ancient inhabitants of
** Florence, and of the whole world, because they were the most
'* deformed, "f Finiguerra, therefore, until some better evidence is
produced of the more remote antiquity of the custom among the
goldsmiths of other parts of Italy, seems still to have the best claim
to the honour of the disco very^

Of the proofs taken by Finiguerra on paper, from his works of
niello, some have supposed there exist specimens in the collection of
the gallery at Florence. It is possible, as Lanzi observes, that one
or two of those in the Durazzo Cabinet may be by him. Nor will
I omit to mention, in this place, that I myself have for many
years possessed a small print which was extracted from a book of
drawings, and which I consider to be, without doubt, the proof of a
work of niello of a Florentine artist of the middle of the fifteenth
century. It was probably the proof taken of one of these Faxes,
and in every respect corresponds so exactly with the character given
us of Finiguerra's productions by Vasari and other writers, that I
scarcely hesitate to pronounce it the work of that extraordinary
artist

It represents the Madonna sealted on a magnificent throne, with
the infant Saviour on her lap : on each side of her is an angel stand-
ing with a lily in his hand, the emblem of virginity, awaiting her
commands. Behind are six other angels, three on each side of the
throne, seated on benches, and playing on musical instruments ; and
above are four more of those celestial attendants, and six cherubims.
On the plane beneath are ten female saints ; amongst whom S. Ca-
tharine is distinguished by her wheel, S. Clara by her monastic
habit, S. Mary Magdalen by her long hair and the vase of ointment,
S. Lucia by her eyes in the dish, and S. Agnes by her lamb : the
whole forming, in a space of little more than four inches in height,
by three in width, a composition of no less than thirty figures.

♦ Boccaccio, *< Decamerone/'— Giornata vi. Novella 6. f Lanzi, torn. L p. 93.

CHAP. IV.] ^ MASO PINIGUERRA. 305

This little picture, for I may so term it, is semicircular at top, and
is bounded by a rich frame studded with precious stones. On each
side is a pilaster of the Corinthian order, supporting a frieze, or cor-
nice, the upper part of which was perhaps unfinished at the time the
artist took this proof; and in the two spandles, over the arch of the
picture, is introduced the Annunciation of the Virgin. The lower
part of the architectural decoration, where it is possible there may
have been an inscription, is wanting.

Upon a careful examination of this work, we shall discover in it
all those qualities for which Finiguerra was, above every other
goldsmith of his time, so eminent. The figures, notwithstanding
their extremely minute proportions, are drawn with great correct-
ness and purity of style; and, in their draperies especially, bear
a strong resemblance to the figures of Masaccio, of whom Bal*
dinucci considers him to have been the disciple. They are judi-
ciously varied in their attitudes, and so skilfiiUy disposed, that it
would be perhaps impossible to point out any composition of that
age, in which fulness and perspicuity are so happily united. As a
work of the burin> it evinces the greatest delicacy of hand, and in-
credible diligence.

Hiat it is of a period not later than 1450, I am strongly of
opinion. About that time Botticelli and others began to introduce
a style of drapery more varied, but less pure, and which, by degrees,
became more and more frittered into many small serpentine folds,
very unlike the simplicity of the school of Masaccio. Moreover the
glories round the heads of the saints and angels, which are here re-
presented solid, and with excavated rays, a remnant of the custom
of the fourteenth century, were by most of the Florentine aitists»
who succeeded that epoch, either entirely omitted, or indicated only
with one or two simple lines, firunelleschi had, shortly before, in-
troduced in Florence a taste for the architectural orders of Greece
and Rome, which often, in the works of inferior architects of the
time, displayed itself in an uncouth mixture of Grecian and Gothic
ornament ; of which the throne of the Madonna, and the horizontal

2 R

306 IMPRESSION SUPPOSED TO BE BY [chap. it.

mouldings by which the pilasters in this little print are divided, may
be produced as examples.

That it is the proof of a work of niello is sufficiently evident :
there is, indeed, no inscription upon it, which, by exhibiting the
letters reversed, might, according to Lanzi's remark, distinguish it
from other prints ; but there are other marks, which decidedly prove
that the whole composition is in a direction opposite from what the
artist intended : thus the little angels, who are playing on musical
instruments, hold the bow of the violin, or strike the chords of the
guitar, with the left hand instead of the right The mode, in which it
is printed, likewise corresponds exactly vrith the description given by
I^anzi of the specimens in the Durazzo collection : it was evidently
taken off by a common roller^ or other imperfect method of printings
•with a tint of little consistency, like that produced with soot and oil;
and is, in point of impression, very irregular and defective through-
out : the work, in some places, being scarcely perceptible ; in others,
pretty distinct The paper, upon which it is printed, is extremely
thin, and appears to have been oiled all over : this was possibly a
part of the artist's process, either that it might ;acquire a shining
appearance like metal, or that, the impression becoming transparent^
h^ might, on the other side of the paper, be enabled to view his
figqres in the same direction as in the silver. After all, I do not
positively assert it to be the work of Finiguerra, although the more
I haye examined it, the more I have felt strengthened in that opi*
nion. A comparison of it with' the Pax in the church of S. Gio-
vanni, at Florence, may, at some future time, ascertain the truth
or fallacy of my conjecture. Meanwhile the copy, which is here
given of it, may not prove unacceptable to the reader.

Thus had I vnitten some months before I was acquainted vrith
the very interesting account published by Zani, and accompanied
by a correct copy of an undoubted print by Maso Finiguerra,
which he had the good fortune to discover at Paris — one of the
impressions that Maso took from his celebrated Pax of ^ the As*
sumption,' before he finished it with the niello. Hie opportunity of

CHAP. IV.] MASO FINIGUERRA. 80r

making the desired comparison was now in my power, and I saw,
with satisfaction, that my conjectures respecting the print above
described, were well founded. Indeed the resemblance between it
and the print copied in Zani, is so striking, that the person* from
whom I first received intelligence of that writer's publication, and
who had, several times, previously seen the print in my possession,
thought erroneously, as he assured me, upon first viewing Zani's
copy, that the original at Paris, from which it had been taken,
could be no other than a duplicate impression of the same plate
with my own.

But although it appears most evident, from the comparison,
that the print just described, and that at Paris, are alike the pro-
ductions of Finiguerra, still, upon a carefiil examination, there will
be found, in the former, every mark of a considerable priority of
date. Not to enter into various minute distinctions between them,
it may be sufficient to observe, that the folds of the draperies^^in that
print, are designed and executed with a dryness of manner from
which the latter is almost wholly exempt. In the print of ' the
Assumption/ the draperies are cast in a bolder style, and the
smaller folds are marked with great tenderness, so as to appear, as
it were, subservient to the larger ones ; by which means the masses
of light are preserved, the figures have greater relief^ and the whole
acquires a certain breadth of effect, which is far from unpleasing.
Moreover, the former print is, as I have already said, feebly and
imperfectly printed, whereas the latter, as we shall hereafter find,
is described as being very well printed.

From these considerations, I feel little hesitation in pronouncing
that the print above described is the impression of a work en-
graved by Maso some years before he executed * the Pax of the

* Thia person was Mr. Hiomas Dodd, to before the arrival of Zani's hotik io Eoglaiu^*

nvhom, as nvell as to Mr. Samuel Woodbiime, sbewed the priot in my possession, and also

(both gentlemen extremely conversant with various portions of a MS. dissertation, whichi

ancient engravings, and, indeed, dealers in I bad composed respecting it, with the inttn-

those articles of virtii) I had several times, tion of speedy publication.

2r2

306 PRINT BY FINIGUERRA [chap. iv.

Assumption ;' and, indeed, I should judge it to be of a dat6 not
later than 1445.

Zani's most interesting discovery shall be related in his own
words. The rhapsody and enthusiasm with which he expresses
himself will be pardoned in an old man, who had, at length, at-
tained the darling object, to the pursuit of which his whole life had
been devoted.*

After mentioning the sulphur which he had seen at Leghorn, in
the possession of Seratti, he proceeds to speak of his journey to
Paris. ** This journey,*' says he, " was ufidertaken by me in
" October, 1797 ; and on the twenty-first day of November, in the
'^ sama year, the sixth day of my labours in the National Cabinet^
** heaven permitted me to discover, in the third volume of the
** engravings of the ancient masters, a print by Maso Finiguerra ;
^' the identical impression which he himself took off, afterf - he
*^ had made the before-mentioned sulphur taken from the silver
^ Pax, now at the Church of S. Giovanni ; before he introduced
^' the meUo. My pen is wholly inadequate to express the excess
♦* of my astonishment and joy in those first and fortunate moments ;
*' joy, however, which was soon succeeded by the painful appre-
** hension that I might be deceived.

^' The superb sulphur which I had seen at Leghorn, I remem-
'^ bered, was in the same style ; the subject was the same, namely,
" * the coronation of the Virgin,' called, also, * the Assumption ;*
^* the composition was similar, and I observed the same exquisite
*^ beauty in the figures : nevertheless, finding the print a good deal
'^ darkened in some places, and torn at one corner, I was not sa-
'^ tisfied. At length, after an attentive examination, I remarked

* I had the pleasure of being acqaainted sion, that Zani, after the example of his

with Zaniy about 1793, at Rome. He friend Seratti, had adopted the extraordinary

l»d then - been many years employed in opinion of Baldinucci, that Maso's impre»-

researcbes respecting early engraving. nons on paper ifiere taken from his sulphurs,

t One might suppose, from this ezpres- and not from the plates themselves.

(

■ *- - — -jfc -

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ciaAP. IV.] DISCOVERED AT PARIS. S09

^ tiiat the inscription on Ae scroll held by the two little angels at
'' the top of the composition, ASSVMPTA EST MARIA IN
" CELVM, was reversed ; and having discovered the titles of the
« two Saints on their knees, AGOSTI, ANBRUS, likewise in
'* characters the reverse way, I became thoroughly convinced that
I had found a print, and not either a drawing or a tracing. The
suspicion, however, that this print might have been copied and
engraved from the original Pax, by some anonymous artist,
curbed my joy, and prevented me from making known my dis*
covery to any one.
After having continued my labours in that magnificent col-
^' lection for six months, I went to see the prints in the possession
of Mr. Alibert, one of the first print-merchants of Paris ; and, upon
opening a portfolio, I observed, pasted upon the first sheet, two
vignettes fi*om the famous Dante of 1481, an amorous subject by
an anonymous German artist, and above, a design, with a broad
margin, under which was written as follows : * This is the design
** exact, and carefiil in every part, and of the same dimensions, of
^ the Silver Pax, which was gilt, enamelled,* and worked in rdeUoy
^ by Maso Finiguerra, and is preserved in the church of S. Gio-
^^ vanni, at Florence ; of which Vasari speaks, especially in the
'^ life of Marc Antonio Raimondi ; and Baldinucci, in his treatise
" on the Art of Engraving on Copper. In its weight it corresponds
'* with the authentic record, which Ant. Francesco Gori, public
reader of history to the Florentine Academy, discovered in
the great journal, marked A A. 1452, preserved in the archives
of the said Church. Its weight is fifly-five ounces, and eleven
" denari.*

tt
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it
ti

tt
tt
ti

* Many writers have erroneoosly con- probably used hi small compartments of the

founded works of niello \rith such as were ornamental frame by which the engraved

executed in enamel ; and, amongst the rest, plate was surrounded. The union of engrav-

Mr. Strutt, in his Dictionary of Engravers. — ing, niello, enamel, and chiselled work, was

The enamel, which is here spoken of, was not unfrequent in the same piece of plate.

310 PRINT BY FINIGUERRA [chap. iv.

** As I contemplated tnlh avidity this design, which presented
** the subject in a contrary direction to the print that I had seen
** in the National Cabinet, and, of consequence, with the letters
*' of the inscription, ASSVMPTA, &c. in their proper order, joy
** once more took possession of my heart, of which she remained
*' absolute mistress. The correspondence between Mariette and
" Gaburri, flashed across my mind, and after I had put many
'* questions to Mr. Alibert, I discovered that this was the identical
^ drawing, which the Italian amateur had sent &om Florence to
^' his friend at Paris. I also learned that the memorandum with
'^ which it was accompanied, besides the remarks under the two
'^ vignettes of Dante, was written by the hand of Mariette, who
" had, doubtless, copied it from the original memorandum by
" Ant. Francesco Gori, sent him by his friend Gaburri.*

" The generous merchant most courteously presented me with
'* the drawing, and I instantly flew with it to the National Cabinet,
that I might compare it with the print ; in which I found so strict
a resemblance, not only in every figure, but even in the heads and
the folds of the drapery, as, in addition to the circumstance of its
being in a direction opposite to the drawing, and its surprising
beauty in every part, soon convinced me that my eye had not
been deceived, and that my happiness was indeed well founded.
I did not lose a moment in making knovm my discovery to
Mr. Joly, the most obliging person possible, who has the charge
'^ of that collection, as well as to those under him, and to several of
my friends ; one of whom, the celebrated Mr. De Non> has since
engraved my portraits representing me in the same attitude in
^' which he found me, with a magnifying glass in my hand, examin*
^' ing that print.

^ Thus it pleased heaven that I should be the first to discover

* It is not vei; creditable to Mariette, discover the genuine impression, afterwards

that, notwithstanding the means which this found by Zani, which all thb time was pre*

drawing afforded him of judging of the style served in the collection of the King of France^

af Maso finiguerra, he should have failed to of whicli Mariette had the charge.

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CHAP. IV.] DISCOVERED AT PARIS. 3U

'* a genuine print by Maso Finiguerra. I will not here stop ta
" describe it, since any person can, at his leisure, contemplate the
" copy which I have given of it, engraved faithfully from the
*' original by the hand of a skilful artist,* It will now, I trust, be
" confessed, that Vasari and Baldinucci had sufficient reason, when
" they asserted, the one, that Maso Finiguerra flourished in 1460,
" the other, in 1450, and that I have not been far from the truth in
^' supposing him born about I418*|r

The workmanship of this Pax, which he probably begun in
1451, fully shews that he must have been,- at that time, not
merely a man greatly, advanced im his art, but a master of high
'^ credit and reputation. And, indeed, if such had not been the
^' case, he would not have been employed, by the consuls of the
^* Company di Calinmla, in. a work which was intended to serve,
*' not for a small church, or- a simple oratory, but for the celebrated
temple of S. Giovanni, in which, at all times,, the greatest
sculptors and goldsmiths of Florence have emulated each otiher
by the greatest exertion of their abilities. Maso therefore,
it is probable^ had at this period attained, the summit of his
^' skilL

" If any person is desirous (adds Zani) of knowing whether or not
^^ I have discovered any other print by that great master, besides the.
one of ' the Assumption' already mentioned, I answer that I have
reason to think I have found another in the same city of Paris, in
the cabinet of Mr, Borduge. This print, which is four inches in
height, by two inches, and eight lines in breadth, irepresents the
Virgin Majy seated upon a throne with the infent Jesus, sur-

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it

* The cop; of this print, given by Zani, found in the original ; and which are, there*

18 executed, with great delicacy, by a Mr. fore, omitted in the copy here presented to

Bnquet. The characters of the heads bear the readep.

every appearance of being faithful imitations f My reasons for the opinion that Fini-

jof the originals; but the artist, in finishing guerra was bom as early as 1410| areakeady

4ke tender parts, has introduced dotted lines, given,
which, I am ftilly persuaded^ will not be

»l$ FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. it.

'' rdunded by a choir of twielve angds and six seraphims, and ten
'^ female saints ; its form is arched at top according to the usage
^' adopted in these Paxes, from one of which it was taken^ and the
^ figures are of surprising beauty^ and in every respect analogous
" to those in * the Assumption/"*

That Maso Finiguerra was the real inventor of the art of which
we treat, conformably to the testimcmy of Vasari, is no longer a
matter of doubt or inquiry ; nor can the Italian writers be accused
of exaggeration when they place the epoch of his discovery about
1440, or a few years before. Let us now inquire as to the probable
means by which the new art was divulged, and the gradations by
whidi it was perfected, so &r as to be applicable to the useful pur*
poses of publication.

From the simple nature of the operation required to produce an
impression from an engraved plate, such a practice could not long
remain confined to the work*3hop of its inventor. A proof on paper
bdng onee shewn to a neighbouring goldsmith, even though the
pn)cess which produced it was widiheld, could not but lead to
experimemt ; and experiment could hardly fail of success. The
slightest hint, conveyed by one artist to his friend residing at a
distacce, sufficed to awaken ingenuity ; and but little ingenuity was
mquired, the e£fect being already known, to discover some simple
openation, by which that effect would be, in some degree at least,
obtamed. Indeed Bcom the proofe of works of fdello in the Durazzo
oabtnet alone, their various styles, and the apparent antiquity of
several of them, it seams probable that many years did not elapse,
from the period of Maso's discovery, before the art, in this, its first
state, became pretty generally practised by the workers in nielld
throughout Italy.

* Zaniy *^ Materially" &c. p. 41, et seq. tiie spandles over the aivh, or the twroimd*

FroBi Z«ni!8 descripdon of the print in tlie tng border. I learn, however, firoai Mr.

poaseBBion of Mr. Borduge, I was some time Woodbume, who saw it during his recent

of opinion that it was an impression taken visit to Paris, that the composition is dif^

from the same plate as my own, but without fcreni.

ciup.it.] ^ MASO FINIGU£RIIA. SIS

It is remailcable that Finiguerra himself is described as haTing
taken off his impressions with a roller. This^ it is probahle» irat
not the first method employed by him, but a happy after-thought^
which occurred to him in the course of his practice. The applica-
tion of such an instrument being once adopted by him, an augmeh*
tation of its power, by the addition of a great and even pressure,
was all that was required to render it an efficient apparatus, and^
indeed, the best fitted of all for the purpose of taking impressioni
from engravings on metal. Finiguerra's first use of the roller, wu
virtually the first step towards the invention of the copper-plate
printing press ; and it is, therefore, a consideration wholly distinct
from any attempts that may have been made by other Italian gold-
smiths, his contemporaries, to procure impressions of their engravings,
by means of firiction, in imitation of the mode so long before used
by the engravers on wood.

Such a mode, it is true, was not ill adapted to the purpose of
taking impressions from engravings on wood; where the work,
requiring to be impressed, presrated itself in numerous and sharp
prc^ctions, well calculated of themselves to keep the paper, which
was laid on it, firm in its original situation, during the operation
oi rubbing it on the back with list, or with the palm of the hand.

In engravings on metal, on the contrary, where the work, wfaidi
was to be trai^ferred to the papex, was ccmcave, the general surface
of the plate itself still remaining smooth and polished, the application
of friction was ill fitted to produce a clear and uniform impressiiMi.
Where the plate was very small, and this was ofi:en the case witih
works of nieUo, the paper mig^t indeed be held firmly extended
^ over it ; but still the violaice of the fiietion requisite to take the

^1|'« impression, could not but occasion the paper to stretch in some

degree during the operation. This would necessarily occasion the
print to appear slurred and deficient in that clearness in the strokes,
which the direct pressure of the roller was alone calculated to give
to the impressions of engravings on metal; and may partly account

314 FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap. iv.

for the soft, but confused effect observable in many of the proofe of
the aifcient Italian goldsmiths.

How far Maso at length succeeded in perfecting his apparatus, it
may be difficult to determine. That he greatly improved it can
admit of no doubt The necessity of an accession of weight, and
thereby of power, must soon have occurred to him. This would in
9ome degree be attained in the heavier material of which he might
afterwards form his roller : a flat piece of stone or marble, held upon
it whilst it passed over the plate, would render it more effective :
a board, suspended from the cieling by cords, and heavily loaded
with weighto of lead or iron, might easily have beep so arraiiged as
to lend a very considerable pressure to the roller during the operas
tion of impression.

: lliere is, I think, reason to believe that^ at an early period; Maso
had recourse to some such expedient Hie first print, which I ha;ve
described, by him, in my own possession, and which I have judged
to be executed about 1445, is very unequally printed, ahd U
deficient in force of effect ; nevertheless some parts of its delicate
work a^ so clearly represented, that I cannot help thinking he Inusl
hav&^ppHed some further degree of pressure to his roller, than what
his. hands alone could have given to it Moreover, the impression U
not slurred, or, as artists term it, printed double ; an evidence that
the roller passed but once over the plate, and that the plate Waii
Iffipt steady by some mechanical contrivance during the operation;
The impression of his Paa of " the Assumption," discovered at
Paris, and already so ofien mentioned, is described by a late Fr<ench
writer* as being well printed* " One sees,'' says he, ** from tbS
^ clearness, of the strokes of the burin, and the firmness of th<(

i * » -

* In a treatise upon engiHTing, introduced I think inefficiently, to reconcile the infonna*'

al the beginning of the third volume of the tion it contains, to his own strange hypo^

** Mus6e de France," published by Robillard, thesis, that Finiguerra took all his impressions

>t p. ^9f note 2, Bartsch has given this in« from his sulphur casts, and not from the

teiaestingiiote.at lengthy and has endeavoured, plates themselves;

CHAP, ivj MASO FINIGUERRA. 3i6

'^ colour with which it is printed^ that this impression mufit have
'^ been taken off firom* the silver plate itself, when nothing wa&
'^ wanting to itb completion, but the introduction- of the nieUo*^
*^ Strange would it be," says Bartsch, who has given us this infor-
mation'in a note, but had not seen the impression itself, '^ if this
*♦ ancient print were in reality of so much more brilliant an effect,
^^'than the proofs taken by the workers \n nieUo posterior ta Fini^*
*^ guerra ; which latter are generally of a greyish tint; and resemble
'♦« drawings done with a pen/**

However strange, such may, nevertheless, be the case; for it is
by no means improbable that the goldsmiths of different cities- of
Italy — nay even, those of Florence itself— may have imitated Fini-
guerra. in the practice of taking impressions from works intended to
be finished with meUo^ by a method of their own, and even by a
common roller, moved backwards and forwards, many years' before
the more appropriate contrivance, adopted by Maso ' himself, was
divulged.

This argument; better than any other that I am'prepared to o£fer,
may account for the long period which appears- to have intervened
-^a period of perhaps not less than twenty years — between the time
<^.Finiguerra's first discovery, and its application for the commbn
purposes of impression and publication-

Whether, or not, by the year 1460, or thereabouts^ from which
Vasari dates the practice of chalcography, Finiguerra had so
far succeeded in* his attempts, as to construct an apparatus fitted
to the ordinary purposes of printing engraved plates of various
dimensions for publication ; whether, or not, in short, he himself
became the perfecter of his own invention, is a question upon which
it may now be proper to offer a few remarks ; for certain it is that
about that period a tolerably efficient mode of impression was prac-
tised in Tuscany, and perhaps in some other parts of Italy,

As a circymstance not a little .favourable to an opinion in the afn

* BartKh^ ** Peiotre Gnvenr,'' vol. soiL p. 44.

2 s 2

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316 FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING Cghaf; !▼.

finnatiye» it may» in the first place, be of importance to mention, that
Zaai saw, in the Martelli collection at Florence, a print of ^' the Ada*
^ ration of the Magi'' — taken, as he supposes, from an engrayed plate
c^ftltrer— which, from the multiplicity, the arrangement, and tfafimi^
nuteness of its figures, he judged, as he tells us, the first nK>merit he
saw it, to be the production of Maso Finiguerra. In a note on this
passage, he says, '^ I shall speak at large cMceming this print in
another place ;'' meaning his piemised and extensiye work ;
and I shall have justly to complftin, that another impression
similar to it, and admirably preserved, was cruelly denied to me
by a pictv»e-dealer at Rome, to whom I had candidly discovered
its vidue/'* The spontaneous judgment of Zani, as to the
iMithor of this engraving, appeam therefore to have been con-*
firmed by his fiirther reflection ; and it will I trust be admitted, by
those who are aware of the extreme rarity f of most of the very
early prints of the Italian schools, that the circumstance of his
having met with two similar impre^ons, is a strong argument in
fitvour of the supposition that the plate, firom which they were
taken, was engraved for the purposes of publication, and that it was
published ; especially as the goldsmiths cannot reasonaUy be sup*
posed to have taken more than two or three proo& firom their works
of niello. Whether or not the plate, upon which this engraving was
executed, was of silver, I will not take upon me to determine ; nor
am I aware of any means by which Zani could be enabled, firom an
examination of the impression, to fi^ame such a distinction.
The natural interpretation of Vasari's words, moreover, ^ II
principio dunque deir it^agUare h attmpe venne da Maso
Finiguerra Fiorentino circa gli anni di nostra salute 1460,'' ap-
pears to be, that '^ the art of engrofcmg plates for the purpos€$ of

* Material!, p. 48, and note 46, p. 124. fifteenth centurj — I mean of such nar th^ne

*)• It is more than probable that, if aD the is every reason to suppose were executed

coUecdons of ancient prints in Europe vere for the common purposes of publication—

diligently examined for the purpose, it would not even two impressions are now in exist*

be found, that of many epgravings of the >ence.

44
44

CQAP. IV.] MASO FINIOUERRA. 317

pubUcatim, had its cMnmenc^oient with Finiguerra about the
year 1460;'' and the expression '' fu seguitato costui da Baccio
f* Baldini/' '' he was followed by Baccio Baldini/' seems to haye
no other meaning than that Bddini practised, afterwards, what the
other had practised before ; and does not necessarily imply that
Baldini even improyed upon the method used by Finiguerra, much
less that he was, as Seratti appears to have supposed, a second in*
ventor. Now we collect from the words of Vasari, that Baldini
pubUshed many engravings, although none of them are specified ;
it appears also from evidence, independently of Vasari's authority,
(namely, the evidence of ancient pnnts themselves,) that the art oi
engraving plates of metal, for the purposes of impression, did begin
to be practised in Florence about 1460. It is not reasonable to
suppose that Maso should have been the last to be awakened to
ihe importance of his own discovery, made so many years before ;
and, consequeirtly, if no prints are really to be found by him^
eoccept the proofe of his works of nkUo^ I should consider it as suf^
ficient evidence of his having been dead, or superannuated, soon
afier the time when the publication of prints began to come into
use; that is, Portly afti^ the period just mentioned.

There appears, however^ to exist some ground for the belief that
the {date of the ^^ Adoration of the Magi,'' of which Zani saw tiro
impressions, must have been engraved by Maso^ for the purpose of
publication ; and it is probable that other prints hy him may in
future be discovered, whidi have hitherto, chiefly perhaps on account
of their excellence, been ascribed to the burin of later engravers*
We have already noticed the change which had taken plate in Fini-
guerra's style, between the period of his executing the plate from
which the impression in my possession was taken, (which I have
conjectured to be about 1445,) and the year 1451 or 1452, when
he engraved the Pax of the Assumption. Now if we suppose him
to have continued to live for eighteen or twenty years after the
latter of those periods,, (that is, until about 1470, when he would
have been, according to our calculation, a man of about the age

aia FURTHER INQUIRY CONCERNING [chap, m

o£ sixty, and we are absolutely without any evidence to die cqn-
trary) it will be reasonable to conclude that during so Jong an
interval of time, a still more considerable change in his style must
have taken place ; occasioned by the example of contemporary
artists, and the influence of that gradual revolution of taste ^ which
the school of Florence experienced after the middle of the fifteenth
century. Besides, if, as. we have supposed, he engraved, after the
year 1460, for the purpose of publication, he would naturally em^*
ploy plates of a different metal from that which he had been accus-
tomed to. use for his works of nie^, and. of larger dimensions. He
would, perhaps, also, adopt a less laboured style of engraviQg, fitted,
like the. prints of PoUajuolo, Mantegna, and others, to imitate the
efiect of drawings, shaded by parallel diagonal hatchings, according
to the custom of the best Italian designers of those times : whereas
in his . works, of nieUo it had been his ambition to counterfeit the
appearance and force of highly finished miniatures, executed with
the pencil ; an effect which, could not be attained except by means
of numerous and most delicate strokes of the burin, crossed in some
parts in various directions ; in others, . so closely laid to each other,
that the divisions between the strokes were . often . imperceptible to
the ' naked eye.* In searching, therefore, . for such engravings as
Maso may have produced after the establishment of chalcography;
it is obvious that we ought not. to determine hastily against every
print that does not, in all respects, resemble in manner, the im-
pressions of his works of nielh. The dexterity with which he
managed the biirin, joined t6 his knowledge of design, would have
rendered the adoption of a different mode of engraving firom that
which he had before. practised, a matter of little difficulty to him ;

* It 18, indeed, retsonabl^ to suppose, that poses, and for individiiab ,of moderate con*

Finipierra did not finish aU his works of dition,he would, doubtless,, execute in a more

fifello With this exquisite diligence ; but onlj expeditious mode of engraving ; and henc^

sp<^ as wer^ intended, like his paxes, for the impressions, taken from some of them^^

public situations, and for which he was- paid mif^t hav^ resembled, as Vasari saja they

high prices : others, destined for inferior pur- did, drawings done with a pen.

cHAi*. IV.] MASO FiNIGUERRA. 819

and it is probable that, if ever the latter works of his hand are
ascertained, they will be found to unite to the beauty of their de-»
sign, a greater share of clearness of execution, than is discoverable
in most of the prints of the early Italian engravers.*

The silence of Vasari as to Finiguerra's later works of en-
graving, is no proof that he was ignorant of their existence ; since in
the introduction to his life of Marc Antonio, he omitted to say
even one word concerning the prints by Botticelli and PoUajuolo;
both of whom, in the lives of those artists, he expressly tells us,
ehg^ved several prints. There can indeed be no doubt that Vasari^
in his eagerness to describe the works of those whom he ton-
«dered better artiste, omitted to name many other early engravers,
x>f wfabm, had h6 been aware of the curiosity of future ages> he
could easily have given us some account: in proof of which, it will
be enough to refer to his life of Pollajuolp— who probably engraved
before Botticelli — ^where, after describing one of that artist's ^n-
]^Vings, he says : " and after that he executed other prints, which
'*^ ar^ engraved in a much better manhef than thos^ of the other
** hid^ters wh6 had been before him/* Who thbsd other masters
were, Ve are left to conjecture*

* There is a set of fifteen engravings pf graved widi great delicacy and clearness of

the life of the Madonna without monogram workmanship, and is shaded with diagonal

or cypher, which is classed by Mr* BarUeh, hatchings. From these circumstances it ap^

(vol. xiii. p. 257,)— -(I hesitate not to say ^rro- pears to appertain neither to Botdcelli, whos^

neously,) amongst the works of Nicoletto da engravings, Vasari telb us, were ill executed ;

Modena. Heinehen,.'* Dictionnaire des Ar^ nor to Baldini, who was deficient in drawings

tistes,^ (vol. ill. p. 213,) attributes these prints and as, in the arrangement and richness of

(o Satidro Bdtticdii. I have seen biii two of its composition, as well as m some other

them, one of \vhich| ** the Coronation of particulars, it bears a considerable r^sen»-

the Viipn," (Bartsch, No. 19y) is m my own blance to the two paxes, which we bavt

collection. It measures eight inches and three described, of I^niguerra, it is not impossible

quarters in height, by six inches and a half, and that it may be by hb hand. As, I hav^ not.

is decidedly by aii artist of the fifteenth cen- however, seen the remainder of the series, I

tury^ df the Fforentine schooL The design is will not insist Upon the probability of my

of the best style of the period, the figures conjectures. Furthel* mention ^11 be mad^

are drawn with no small degree of elegance of these engravings in a subsequi&nt page.''
and conecbess, and the virhole is en-

SfO IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO, [chap, v^

CHAPTEE V.

^essiomfirom Warh of Nietto of the andefU ItaUm Gold$miikM^ ii
thcDuraxzo CoUectian, deicribed^Specisnens of the $ame kind w th
po$se$mon of the Authof^^Remarh on the gradual Progress of A
Art of taking Impressions from engraved Plates in Itabf. BartscV
Opinions, eonceming the Establishment of Chakogra^,

We liave obsenred in the preceding chapter, that, although
Maso Finiguerra appears to have first discovered the practicability
of taking the impressiooB of his works of nieUOf some years before
the middle of the fifteenth century; it was not until about 1460
that the real importance of his discovery was appreciated ; or that
plates of larger dimensions began to be executed for the express
purpose of multiplying the impressions ^ engravings for pub-
lication.

The Italian goldsmiths, contemporaries of Finiguerra, were early
in their attempts to imitate him in the practice of taking impressions
firom his engravings in silver, and it is probable the usage soon
became general amongst them. Lake Maso, however, they appear,
for a long time, to have derived little advantage firom the exercise
of their newly acquired art, beyond the simple gratification of re-
taining for themselves a proof or two, taken firom their works, before
they delivered them, finished with meUop into the hands of those
who had ordered them ; a custom, indeed, which, there is reason
to believe, continued to be practised by the goldsmith^ indifierent

CHAP, v.] IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. 381

parts of Italy^ for many years b&jsx the art of Chalcography came
into use.

. Lanzi observes, that the Italian goldsmiths are also supposed
to have occasionally taken impressions from certain of their other
engravings on silver^ in which nkUo was not used. Of this
description were the productions which he styles, lavari a graffito ;
an expression which appears to indicate that they were superficially
scratched on the metal with a steel point, in contradistinction to
such engravings as were intended to be finished with niello, which
necessarily required to be executed with greater depth of stroke
by means of the burin. The term graffito, or sgraffito, however,
«s applied to works <m metal, is not found in Yasari ; and appears
to have be^a used by Lanzi, mid some other Italian writers, in a
sense so nearly resembling that in which we use the term engraving,
that it may be difficult to draw the distinction.

That the burin itself was used in executing engravings upon plate,
not intended to be finished afterwards with nieUo, is evident from
the words of Yasari, in his chapter on works of mello ; where, after
describing the burin, he says expressly, '' With this instrument all
^ things are done, which are engraved upon plates of metal;
*' whether to fill the work afterwards with niello, or to leave it
^' empty, according to the will of the artist" In this preceptive
part of his work, however, Yasari speaks in the present tense, and,
consequently, it may appear to admit of a doubt, whether his words
refer to the practice used in the time in which he wrote, or to that
of the ancient goldsmiths.

But be this as it may, Yasari is decided in ascribing the origin of
chalcography to the practice of working in niello ; and, in speaking
of Masons [Mtu^ce of taking impressions from his engravings in
silver, he mentions those only which were to be finished in that
manner. Perhaps in proportion as the art of working in niello fell
into disuse, these lavori a graffito came into fashion.

Works of niello, as we have seen, were often studied and very
highly finished performances ; the smallness of whose dimensions

2 T

322 IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. [chap, v;

greatly augmented the difficulty of executing them. Works a
graffito, it may be supposed, bore a nearer affinity to drawings^ or
bold sketches ; and were even used for the decoration of bowls,
cups, salvers, and other utensils of inferior metals. Hence it ii
probable that the early Italian goldsmiths did not bestow the same
pains upon their performances in this way, as they were accustomed
to do upon their works of niello ; that they were often slight and
hasty productions, and that, consequently, some time elapsed
before they thought of retaining the impressions of works which, in
their opinion, could add so little to their professional reputation.

From the above observations we may conclude, that the proofs
existing of the early Italian goldsmiths, taken by them from their
works of niello, or from their other engravings for the decoration of
plate, have very unequal pretensions to antiquity ; some of them
being perhaps of a date as early as 1440; others, of the latter part
of the century ; and, indeed, it is highly probable that even Marc
Antonio, who, in his youth, excelled, as Vasari informs us, in works
of niello, may have been accustomed to take the impressions of his
chief labours in that way ; more especially as it is ascertained that
his master, Francesco Francia, was no stranger to such a practice.
The proofs of the Italian goldsmiths, notwithstanding this probable
diversity in their age, may be properly considered, in the aggregate;
as the legitimate monuments of chalcography in its infancy; they
also attest, by the diversity of their styles, that the new art, in this,
its first state, was widely diffused throughout Italy ; some of them
being taken from the rude essays of obscure artisans of distant pro^
vinces; others from the masterly, and, sometimes, highly wrought
productions of eminent artists of the best schools. They are like^
wise distinguished by the different degrees of success with which
they were printed : some of them having been taken off with a tint
of little consistency, by means, perhaps, of friction, or a common
roller ; whilst others, especially some of those of a later date, appear
to have been printed with a sufficiently well contrived apparatus,
^nd dark oil colour.

CHAP. V-] IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OP NIELLO. 323

/ The Cabinet of the Count Dura^zo, at Genoa^ rich, perhaps^
beyond every other, in prints of the old Italian artists, possesses, bs
we have said, many of the proofs taken by the early goldsmiths from
their works of niello. The following descriptive catalogue of thirty-two
of thetUy as giveii by Bartsch* will not be uninteresting to the reader.

PROOFS OF THE ITALIAN GOLDSMITHS FROM THEIR

WORKS OF NIELLO,

Subjects from the New Testament.

L The Nativity.

' The Virgin Mary and Joseph are repp6sented adoring the
newly born infant, who is lying upoii a carpet spread on the
ground* In the back-ground, on the left, is the stable ; and on
the right, the Angel appears announcing the birth of our Saviour
to the Shepherds. Three other angels, half of whose figures only
are seen, and in front, are in the clouds, holding a scroll, upon
which is written : gloria in excelsis deo. Upon a second scroll,
plabed lower in tihe composition, is inscribed: evangelicO VOBid
CFAUDIUM MAGNUM. This subject is enclosed in a circle, round
which is written : dominus • philippus . stancharius * hoc opus *

FIERI • PRECEPIT . TERTIO • KALENDAS . JUUI. All these inscriptions

are reveirsed.
Diameter, 1 inch 7*8ths, independent of the inscription, which

is without the border of the composition,

2« John baptizing Christ^

^ St. John is standing towards the right, baptizing Christ, who is
in the middle of the print, having his hands joined together and
elevated. Two persons in religious habits, with their backs turned
towards the spectator, are kneeling in the fore-ground ; the 6ne on
the right, the other on the left. Two angels, in attitudes expressive

2t2

324 IMPRESSIONS OP WORKS OF NIELLO, [cha^- v.

of adoration^ are standing towards the \eh, In the back-ground,
which represents an extensive mountainous country. God the
Father, and the Holy Spirit, surrounded by a glory of angels, appear
in the middle of the upper part of the print.

In height, 3 inches and d-8ths, by ^ inches 6-8ths in breadtii.

5. Jems Christ on the Cross.

' Jesus Christ on the Cross, occupies the middle of the print : on
the left hand is the Virgin Mary, and, on the right, St. John. The
City of Jerusalem is seen in the distance. The sky, with the ex-
ception of a few clouds, is dark.

A circle, bounded by a simple line. Diameter, I inch l-4th.

A. Jesus Christ on the Cross.

^ The figure of our Saviour on the Cross, occupies the middle of
the print In the air, on either side, are two angels, in attitudes
expressive of lamentation. At the foot of the cross, on the right,
is the Virgin, standing ; and on the same side, in the back-ground,
is St Francis on his knees. St John is standing on the left ; and
b^ind, in the back-ground, on that side, is St Jerom kneeling. In
the distance, is a city situated on the borders of the sea, out of
which rise two islands, each surmounted by a large and ste^
rock. Hie letters INRI appear reversed. The composition is arched
at top.'

In height, 2 inches 7-8ths, by I inch 7-8ths in breadth.

The plate from which this proof was taken, is described by Zani,
who, however, when he wrote, did not know of the existence of
the impression from it in the Durazzo cabinet The original is no
other than a Pas, worked in niello, by the hand of Francesco
Francia, for the church ci & Giacomo, at Bologna. It is now pre-
served in the coUectiMi of the Institute of Bologna, together with
another Paa by the same artist, representing the Resurrection of
Christ, who is represented giving die benediction with his right
hand, whilst four soldiers are asleep at the four comers of tiie se-

GHAP. v.] IMPRESSIOlf S OF WORKS OF NIBLLO. 3U

pulchre. This last was originally executed for the church of the
Misericardia, in the same city, and measures 3 inches 9-l6ths in
height, by 2 inches 5-l6ths in breadth. Both these engraved plates
are surrounded by ornamental frames of chiselled work, one of which
is also enriched with enamel, and decorated by a silver basso-relievo.
Each bears the arras of the family that caused it to be executed,

5. The Burial of Christ.

* Nicodemus is represented supporting the body of Christ by the
middle, and laying it in the sepulchre. On each side is an angel :
that on the right holds the crown of thorns. The back-ground is of
a plain dark tint.

It measures 2 inches 3-8ths in breadth, by 1 inch 3-16ths in
breadth.

Devotional Subjects and Saints,

6. A Pieta.

^ Hie body of Christ, of which only the upper part is seen, is
placed upright in the sepulchre, whereon is inscribed : mors . mea •
VITA . TUA. The figure of Christ is surrounded by the instruments
of his passion, among which are to be seen, on the right, the ladder,
the hand of Judas Iscariot holding the thirty pieces of silver, and
the cock ; and, on the left, the heads of the two thieves. This
composition is of a circular form, and is ^iclosed in two borders,
cme of which is ornamented with foliage ; the otiier contains thii^
inscription : corporis afflictu . verbis . et . ulnere ciuiNo .

FRANCISCO . FAVEAS SURGAT • ET . IPSA . DOMUS.

Diameter, 2 inches and one-half.

7. The Madmna betn^ten two Saints.

* The Virgin is seated on a throne, with the infant Christ in her
arms. On the left stands a Saint, whose mitre and crosier denote
him to be a Bishop ; and^ on the right, another Saint of some

320 IMPRESSIOT^S OF WORKS OF NIELLO* [chap. v.

religious order, with a book in his left' hand. The throne is elevated
upon two steps. The form of this piece is ovaL

In height, 2 inches ; in breadth, 1 inch 7-l6ths«

8. St. John the Evangelist.

* The Saint is standing, and holds in his right hand a stail^ surr
mounted by a cross and an oval, in which is represented the lamb :
he points with his other hand towards a scroll, on which is written,
ECCE AGNUS, in characters reversed. Behind him, are two mounds
of earth ornamented with trees, and above are some white cloudy
relieved upon a dark ground.

Height, 2 inches 5-8ths : breadth, 1 inch l-4th,

9. St. George.

* St. George is on horseback, and completely armed. His horse,
at full gallop, is directed towards the lefl> where the dragon appears,
into whose mouth the saint is thrusting his spear. The queen, whom
he has delivered, is on her knees in the back-ground, on the same
9ide, This piece is circular, and surrounded by a simple line.

Diameter, 1 inch l-4th.

Subjects of Profane History,

10. Mutitis Scevola*

* Mutius Scevola is represented burning his hand in the fire placed
ypon an altar opposite to Porsenna, who is seated upon hi$ thronej
on the right of the print On the left are several Roman soldiers,
on horseback and on foot. Upon a small cloud over the head of
Porsenna, is a crescent^ and upon one of the steps of the throne
is the letter P.

Breadth, 3 inches l-8th ; height, 2 inches l-8th.

CHAP, v.] IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. 337

Mythological Subjects.

11. Hercules and Dejanira.

' Hercules and Dejanira are represented standing opposite to
each other ; the former on the left, the latter on the right ; their
arms extended as if they were about to embrace. Above the he&ds
of these figures, are two scrolls, on which are inscribed the names,
HERCULES, DIEANIRA* The letter P* is engraved in the middle of the
margin at bottom.

Height, 1 inch 7-8ths : breadth, 1 inch l-4th.

12. Hercules killing the Hj/dra*

* Hercules appears standing on the left, and ajbout^to giv6 a
blow to the Hydra with the plub, which he elevates in his right
hand ; he has seized the monster, which is on the right, by one of
its heads.

Height, 2 inches t breadth^ 1 inch l-4th.

13. A Sea-God, and a Nereids

* An old Sea-Deity appears traversing the ocean, directing his
course towards the left. He is seated upon a sea-horse, which ter-
minates in a large fish's tail, and has before him a Nereid, who has
her right arm round his neck, and, with her left hand, takes hold
of one of the ears of the horse. A circular composition surrounded
by a border ornamented with pearls.

Diameter, 2 inches l-8th.

14. The Judgment of Paris.

' Paris is seated on the right, with a dog at his feet : he presents
the golden apple, with his left hand, to Venus, who is standing
before him, on the left, accompanied by the two other Goddesses.

3S8 IMPRESSIONS OP WORKS OF NIELLO, [chap. v.

The back-ground represents a mountainous country. The lower
edge of this print is determined by three curved lines.

Height^ 2 inches, 5-16ths: breadth, 1 inch ll-lOths.

POBTRAITS.

15. The Portrait of a Man.

^ The head of a Young Man seen in profile, and turned towards
the right. He has strait long hair, and around his head, which is
<u>yered with a cap, is a scroIU bearing this inscripticm : lA SPB-

RANZA MI CONFORTA. A circle.

Diameter^ 1 inch l-8th.

16. Another Portrait of a Man.

* The upper part of the figure is seen, he is viewed in profile, and
turned towards the right. He has long hair, and his head is covered
with a cap» which 4ias a border. An ornamental sprig of foliage
is in fi*ont of him, and another is behind him. Above are two
curtains ; one drawn up towards the left, the other towards the
right

Height, 1 inch l^th : breadth, 7-8ths.

17 The Portrait of a LaAf.

' A Young Lady^ half lengths seen almost in firont» and turned a
little towards the right Her hair is divided into tresses, two of
which &Xi over her left chedk, two otb^^ over her right A piece
of ornamental foliage rises on each side of this portrait The print is
irregularly curved (bomb^e) at the top.

Height, 1 inch and one half: breadth 1 inch l-8tlu

18. A Mak and a Female Head.

' On the left of this piece is the bust of a young man, turned
.towards the. right His head is bent forward^ and his hands are

CHAP, v.] IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. 329

crdssed upon his bosom. On the right is the bust of a young
woman : she is turned towards the left, and holds a flower in her
right hand. Near her head is a scroll, on which is inscribed:
ECOME. The upper and the lower edge of this print are irregu-
larly curved.

Breadth, 1 inch and a half: height, left side, 6-8ths of an inch;
right side, 7-8ths.

19. A Male and a Female Head.

^ The busts of a man and of a woman, seen in profile, and placed
opposite to each other ; the woman on the left, the man on the right
Between these heads is a vase of flowers. The back-ground pre-
sents a landscape with some trees. The left edge of this plate is
curved inwards.

Breadth, 2 inches l-8th : height, 1 inch.

20. Two Busts of Men.

' Two busts of men regarding each other, and placed in niches;
That on the left has a cuirass and a helmet, ornamented with three,
masks. The other has a drapery and a helmet, which is surmounted
by a winged figure, holding a cornucopia.

Breadth, 2 inches l-8th : height, 1 inch and a half

Fancy Subjects.

21. il Young Female, waUcing Blindfolded.

' A young woman, elegantly dressed, with her eyes covered by
a bandage, walking, with an uncertain, step, towards the right, and
extending her hands, as if to feel her way. In the back-ground,
towards the right, is a dog, looking at her. On a scroll, above^
is written, in characters reversed, va in la caneva. A circle,

, 1 inch l-4th.

2 u

930 IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO, [chaf. v.)

22. The Wheel
' On the rights at the upper part of this print, is seen a hand, which
projects ont of the clouds, and by means of a cord, appears to give
motion to a wheel : a fool and two asses are fixed to this wheel, and
are accompanied by labels. That to the right is inscribed regnatem ;
that on the left, kegnabo ; and on that at top is written regna.
These words are in characters reversed. A circla

Diameter, 1 inch l-4th.

23. A King, seated.

^ The monarch is seen in profile, and is turned towards the right.
His head is ornamented with a crown, and his hands are both in
action.

Height, 1 inch 3-8ths : breadth, 1 inch.

24. A Raman General haranguing his Soldiers.

' The general, accompanied by another warrior, is standing on the
right, upon a raised pavement He appears to be haranguing three
soldiers, ene of whom carries a torch : the two others bear trophies,
which are fixed to the ends of their lances. An oval.
' Height, 1 inch .3*8ths : breadth, 1 inch l*8tlu

25. A man tied to the Trunk of a Tree.

^ A naked man, standing, and bound to the stem of a tree ; his
hands tied behind his back. His body is turned a little towards the
right, and his head is elevated towards the left. Upon a scroll near
his head is inscribed, in characters reversed, non piu (fo)rtuna.
The two letters fo are wanting.

Height, 2 inches : breadth, 7-8ths of an inch.

26. A Lion destroying a Man.

* The lion is seen in profile, and turned towards the right : he has
his paws upon the man, and is about to tear him in pieces.

Breadth, 2 inches : height, 1 inch, 1-1 6th. \

CHAP, v.] IMPRESSIONS OP WORKS OF NIELLO. 831

27. A Female binding a Man to a Tree.

^ The woman is naked, and standing on a bank^ from which rises
the stem of a tree. A yonng man, also naked, is seated at the foot
of the tree, to which the woman is binding him with a cord. Near

the top, towards the right, is a scroll, on which, in characters re-
versed, are these words : Va mori.

Height, 2 inches l-8th : breadth, 1 inch,

28. A Young Woman, standing.

' She is seen in profile, and turned towards the right : her hands
are crossed before her«. Above her head is a scroll, with these
words, in characters reversed : SOL IN did spero. This piece is
curved at top.

Height, 2 inches d-8ths : breadth, 5-8ths of an inch.

Ornaments, &c.

29. A Coat of Arms.

* The shield is barred in six divisions, and is surmounted hj a
helmet with its mantles. The helmet is crested by a crown, and a
leopard couching, over which is a scroll with these words, in cha-
racters reversed : virtu . viVE . E * non . teme. Near the top,
towards the right, is the letter M, which is relieved by light, upon
a dark ground. A circle.

Diameter, 2 inches.

30. Grotesque Ornaments.

* This print contains arabesques mingled with figures ; amongst
which is a male figure with wings, who is sitting with his legs asundef
upon the tails of two dolphins^ and holds a torch in each hand.
Upon the back of each of the dolphins is a winged triton sounding
a hom. Above is a cartouch, surmounted by three large birds,

2 u2

332

IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. [chap, v;

and ornamented in the middle by a small circle, in which is the

letter ?.♦

Height^ 2 inches d-4ths : breadth, 1 inch ll-16ths.

31.-4 Vignette.

' In the middle of this vignette is an oval which is left white, and
is ornamented on each side by the figure of a horse, terminating
in twisted foliage.

Breadth, 4 inches : height, half an inch.

32. A Design for the Top of a Box.

* This design, which appears to have been engraved for the top of
a box, represents, in the middle, an oval, which is left white, and is
ornamented with heads of cherubims, placed at the four corners, in
the vacancies left by the oval in the oblong space in which it is intro-
duced. At the top of the print is a sort of frieze, in which are four
half figures, each placed in a niche. The first of these figures, begin-
ning at the right hand, represents the Virgin ; the second, the Angel,
who is announcing to her the mystery of the incarnation ; the third
is a Saint holding a cross ; and the fourth is a Saint of the Franciscan
order, with a book. In another frieze, at the bottom of the print,
are four half-length female figures, representing Justice, Fortitude,
Temperance, and Prudence, each with a crown on her head.f

Height, 4 inches : breadth, 2 inches 3-4ths/

* This letter P b found, also, on Nos. 10
and 11, before described; and is, probably,
the initial of the artist.

f We learn from lanu^ torn. i. p. 84,
that, when he wrote, the Abate Bofii, Se-
cretary to the Marquis Durazzd, was em-
ployed in preparing an account of the ancient
prints of that nobleman's magnificent collec-
tion. It appears from Bartsch, *^ Peintre
Graveur/' vol. siii. p. 24, tliat Boni has
since published at least a part of this work,

accompanied by fac-similes of the thirty-two
proofs fit>m works of niello above described.
I have in vain inquired for thb publication
of Bom J in London and at Park, for several
months past; Imd have, with great regret,
been obliged to 'go to press with the present
Chapter without seeing it. Perhaps I may,
hereafter, be enabled to obtain it : in which
case, any observations that it may give rise
to, shall be given in an appendix.

CHAP, v.] IMPRKSSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO. 333

The following specimens in my own collection, are, doubtless,
the proofs of old Italian goldsmiths, from their works of niello^ or
other engravings for the decoration of plate.

No. 1. A Cupid riding on a Dolphin ; a pretty group, of which a
<opy is here subjoined, very accurately. engraved from the original.

3. Its companion. — A figure of Cupid, with his eyes bandaged,
his arms tied behind him, and his wings extended, seated on a rock
in the midst of the sea.

These two specimens are, most probably, of the Florentine
school, and I should judge them to be of a date not later than
1460. They are printed apparently by a roller, with a greyish tint,
and the impression of No. 2, is very defective. I am not with-
out my suspicions that they, as well as the four following spe-
cimens, may be impressions taken by Baldini from some of his
works ofnidlo.

S. An upright plate» 4 inches and 7-8ths in height, by 7-8ths
of an inch in breadth, ornamented with arabesques. A tripod sup-
porting a vase, out of which springs an ornament offoliage that

334 IMPRESSIONS OF WORKS OF NIELLO, [chap. v.

rises to the top of the print. The foUage> at the distance of one
inch and a quarter from the rase, passes through.a small orown, by
which it is confined.

. 4. The companion to the last deloribed-<-flame dimensions. The
foliage^ in this print, rises from a sort of candelabrum, of about an
inch and a half in height, composed of three parts: viz. its base,
which is seen upon an angle; its body, which is something like a
common tea-urn ; and the vase at top,

5. An ornament of foliage ; lengthways 4 inches and l-8th, by
1 inch and l-8th. The center presents four large leaves^ with, in
the midst of them, something like a small pine-apple. The rami-
fications of the foliage pass through four rings, two of which are
introduced at either end of the plate.

6. Of its companion, in which a naked figure of a boy is prettily
introduced among the foliage, the reader will be enabled to judge
from the following copy.

These four specimens, which, : as has be«n said, I am inclined to
think are by the same hand as the two circles before described,
are, probably, the proofs taken from works of meUo, intended to be
inserted among the decorations of small cabinets of ivory or ebony,
such as Lanzi .speaks of, and as have been mentioned in the.
beginning of this Chapter, Nos. 5 and 6, ^pear to have been

CHAP, v.] ESTABLISHMENT OF CHALCOGRAPHY. S34

printed with a oommon roller, moved backwards and forwards by
the hand.

7. A circle, 1 inch 5-8ths in diameter. Sampson tearing open
the Jaws of the Lion. The . figure of Sampson is seen nearly in
firont, and his head is turned towards the left : he presses the back
of the lion with his left knee, while, with his hands extended
towards the right, he tears open the jaws of the ferocious animal :
he has a shield thrown over his shoulder, and is naked. Behind
him, on the left, is a tree, and in the distance, on the same side, is a
rocky hillock : a mount of greater eminence forms the back-ground
on the right The impression of this print is very dark, but of a
soft and confused effect ; and was probably taken off by friction. It
is in a very different style from any of the preceding, and is, I am
inclined to think, of the old Bolognese school* It is, probably, the
proof of a work of niello by Francesco Francia.

From such essays, as Lanzi observes, the transition was made, in
some parts more early, and in others later, to what may be termed
the second statt of the art of engraving. The beautiful effects of these
proofs from wofks of niello, at length suggested the idea of engraving
works in that finished and delicate taste, and of applying them to
the purposes for which, hitherto, wood-prints only had been used.
Thus was the cradle of chalcography prepared in the work-shops of
the silversmiths, whose first engravings with a view to impression,
were executed, it is supposed, on silver or pewter, or on some
metallic compound less hard than copper. Plates of larger dimen-^
sions than those required for works of niello, soon began to be used;
and artists of superior abilities eiit^ed the lists. The intended subject,
together with any inscription attached to it, was now engraved in
a reverse direction on the plate, that it might come the right way
in the impression ; and as, from the increased size of the engravings^
* the difficulty of printing them with an imperfect appar^ttus was

336, ESTABLISHMENT OF CHALCOGRAPHY, [chap. v.

greatly augmented, the plate was sometimes fixed, by small nails
at its corners, to a table or other flat piece of wood ; that thus it
might be kept steady during the operation, and the pressure, whether
of a roller, or of any other kind, be applied the more effectually. Of
this custom of the early Italian engravers, of fastening their plates,
during the operation of impression, by means of small nails or pegs
of metal, we shall find numerous examples among the prints of the
early masters which will hereafter be described ; and, indeed, the
traces of such a practice, are to be found even as late as the com-
mencement of the sixteenth century.

The observations already made upon the proofs taken by the.
Italian goldsmiths from their engravings on plate, will in many
respects apply to the first essays of the art, in this, the second stage
of its progress. They are often unequally and feebly printed, with a
tint of little consistency, most frequently inclining to grey, some-
times to brown, and have a sof): effect Many of them seem to
attest, by their confused and dazzling appearance, that they were
printed with a roller, moved backwards and forwards by the
hand : others, of a brown tint, sometimes bear so near a re^
semblance to designs executed with a pen and bistre, that I have
seen experienced judges hesitate before they would pronounce
whether they were really prints or drawings.*

By degrees the art of printing engravings became better under-
stood throughout Italy ; plates of copper began to be used instead
of thosej^of sofler metals ; and, at length, Mantegna, and some others,
appear to have become possessed of a press of adequate power, and
printing ink of sufficient depth and consistency, to give to the im-.
pressions of engravings their fullest effect. The chalcographic art^
so far as relates to impression, had then attained what Lanzi terms
its third, or mature state.

^ I possess^ indeed^ in my own collection, triumph — ^which the best connoissew mighty
an early impression of one of Mantegna's en- widiout discredit^ mistake for a drawing,
gr^ivigarrooe of the compartments of his

CHAP, v.] LANZrS OBSERVATIONS THEREOK 837

This gradual progress of chalcography in Italy, from infancy ttt
adolescence and maturity, is strongly insisted upon by Lanzi, as
affording the most substantial proof of its being really the invention
of that nation ; ''whereas," says he, " all the ancient prints, which
♦' have been hitherto produced in Germany, seem, as it were,*' (with
respect to their mechanism,) *' perfect in their kind ; for neither
*' proofs of works of niello, nor other first attempts at engraving in
*< metals of a soft temperature, are ever mentioned in that country.
'* It is therefore most probable that, according to ancient belief^
*' and the testimony of Vasari, the invention found its way from
^' Italy into Germany ; and that, as an art easy to the goldsmith, it
" was immediately practised with success ; nay, I will add, im-^
'* proved by the artists of Germany. For as they were there
^' acquainted with the press, and with the ink proper for printing,
" they were enabled to supply to the mechanical parts of the art,
'' those things of which Italy was still ignorant/*

'* I will illustrate what I have said," adds Lanzi, ^* by an ex-
'' ample exactly in point. The art of printing books, was discovered
'' in Germany : history records it, and various monuments confirm
" it, which shew the gradual progress of the invention, fi'om the use
'* of wooden blocks to that of separate characters, likewise of wood ;
'* and from those, tp types of metal. In this state the invention was
" brought amongst us; and presently Italy, without passing through
^' these intermediate degrees of imperfection, printed books, not
'* only with moveable characters of metal, but likewise ornamented
'' with engraved plates ; thus adding to the art a perfection which
" was before wanting to it."

" The Baron Heineken (Idee Generale, pp. 139, 140.) opposes td
^' my argument, that the Germans, in those times, had but little cor-
♦♦ respondence with the cities of Italy, with the exception of Venice.
*' I answer, that our universities of Bologna and Pisa, and not a few
" others, were very much frequented by the young men of Germany
f* at that period ; and that for the use of foreigners^ bs well as that of
f' the citizens, there were printed at Venice, in 1475, and at Bologna^

4€

338 BARTSCH'S ARGUMENT EXAMINED. [chap. r.

^ in 14799 dictionaries of the German language ; a circumstance
certainly in itself sufficient to prove -a communication not unfre-
quent between two nations. There might be produced moreover
so many other fects^ arguing the communication which took place
*^ between Germany and Italy in those early times, as to make it
^ no matter of wonder that the arts of one country found their way
'* into the other/'

Such were amongst the cogent arguments used by this excellent
writer, in answer to a host of opponents, at a time when, in the
opinion of many impartial persons, the pretensions of Italy were
not sustained by evidence of that unquestionable character which
their ultimate establishment appeared to require.

I also/' says he, *' have argued the cause of my country to the
best of my abilities, although I am far from flattering myself that I
have put an end to the controversy. Perhaps some time or other,
^' those proofs of nieUo and first essays of the art, which no one has
*^ hitherto produced, may be discovered likewise in Germany. Per-
^' haps one of the writers of that nation, who are at present so
'^ numerous and so learned, may strengthen the hypothesis of Hei-
'^ neken, that the Germans and the Italians, without any know-
ledge of each others' successes, discovered the new art. What-
ever may be to come, I argue upon such documents as
" already exist."

Lanzi, I believe, lived long enough, after writing the above, to be
informed of the important discovery of Finiguerra's print at Paris ;
and probably died with the gratifying conviction, that at length the
claims of Italy were indeed established upon the solid basis of posi-
tive proof^that the controversy was at an end.

The claims of Italy are indeed established, but the controversy is
not at an end« The advocate of Germany now posts himself on
other ground; like Proteus, he assumes a new fonn, and again
invites the combat.

A living German writer, already mentioned, Mr. Bartsch, whose
book is too much readt and whose arguments are too plausible to b^

CHAP, v.] BARTSCH^S ARGUMENT EXAMINED* S38

passed over in silence, has lately treated the subject in ^^ An Essay
*^ on the History of the Discovery of the Art of taking Impressions
'^ from Engravings/' prefixed to the thirteenth volume of his exten-
sive work, " Le Peintre Graveur/' — ^a volume which contains the
catalogues of the Italian engravers who preceded Marc Antonio.
Of this essay he seems, in his avant propas, to be not a little proud ;
and to say the truth, it is written with considerable ingenuity.

In the review which I have taken of Finiguerra's invention of
the art of taking impressions from engravings, of the early promul^
gation of that art in its infant state amongst the Italian goldsmiths,
and of its gradual advancement to maturity, I have been obliged
to differ most materially from the opinions urged by Mr. Bartsch in
the above essay ; and as I feel it a duty, as far as possible, to clear
this part of the subject from the obscurities with which it seems still
enveloped, before 1 proceed further, I shall now devote a few pages
to an examination of that writer's argument

The positive existence of an undoubted print by Finiguerra, of a
date at least anterior by thirteen or fourteen years to any impres-
sion taken from an engraving on metal, which Germany has been
able to produce, could not, afler the publication of Zani's book, be
any longer denied ; and Bartsch is reluctantly constrained, even in
the very heart of Germany, to acknowledge Maso's claim to the
honour of having discovered an imperfect method of procuring im-
pressions from his works on silver : imperfect indeed — for, artfully
clinging to the erroneous reading of Baldinucci, he insists that those
impressions were taken from the sulphur casts, not from the engraved
plates themselves.

Having admitted so much, he thinks that Italy ought to be
well satisfied with his candour and liberality. Desirous to make
amends to his German readers for so great a concession, he
turns the early prints of Italy into ridicule; takes prodigious pains
to shew that the artists of that country were unable to turn their
own invention to any account ; and insists that all the credit of per-
fecting it, belonged to the brighter wits of Germany.

2x2

340 BARTSCH'S ARGUMENT EXAMINED. Cchap. t:

€€
ti
4i

Finiguerra/' says Bartsch, ** it is true» had made his discoveiy,
but appears to have been wholly insensible to the important
results which he might have drawn from it ; and, of consequence,'
" to have felt no desire to go one step further towards perfecting it.^
'' It is almost certain that he stopped there, and that he contented
V himself, when he had obtained his sulphur cast, and taken from
" it, at the most, a couple of impressions. For this reason, there^.
'* fore, we repeat, the first print is to be considered rather as the
production of chance, than as the result of an invention preceded
by researches and combinations. But what is really astonishing
** is, that the discovery, although communicated to several otlier
'^ goldsmiths, should have remained in the same state of imperfecr
*f tion during many years ; that is, until about 1460. All the prints
^* that Italy can furnish, printed during this space of time, are con-
** fined, in all appearance, to a few proofs of works of nieUo, the
grey tint and imperfect impression of which, seem to attest, that
they likewise were taken from sulphurs, and, of consequence, in
a very small number.*'

" That which proves the obscurity in which the new discovery
remained enveloped, during so long a time, is the absolute silence:
of all contemporary writers, as well as the entire want of other
notices respecting it, which certainly could not have failed to
reach us, had they been dispersed at all generally."
I have already given my reasons for differing entirely fi^om
Mr. Bartsch, as to the mode in which Finiguerra obtained impres-
sions of his works of niello on paper, which I have endeavoured
to shew were taken from the plate itself, not from the sulphur ; and
I am ignorant of the testimony upon which he founds the opinion,
that that master never carried the art further : but when, against
the evidence of common sense, he would persuade us that all the
other Italian goldsmiths, who took impressions of their engravings
during so long an interval, used the same method ; that is, that
they resorted, not to the plate itself, so well fitted for impression^
but to a sulphur cast taken from it, which he has before acknow-?

it
if

it
it
it
It

CHAP- v.l BARTSCffS ARGUMENT EXAMINED. 341

ledged to be so ill adapted to that purpose, he certainly accuses the
Italians of a degree of stupidity which has not hitherto been consi-
dered characteristic of that people, and gives his readers credit for
a greater sliare of complacency than I at least possess. Besides, it
is to be remembered, that if the Italians began to take impressions
directly from their engraved plates no earlier than 1460, (and Mr.
Bartsch appears to admit that data in the above passage) they may,
even then, boast of having practised the art five years before it is
known to have been practised in Germany ; since that country pro-
duces no authentic date upon any impression of an engraving on
metal, earlier than the years 1465 and 1466.

; With regard to the greyish tint of the proofs of the old Italian
goldsmiths^ it proves no more than that they were taken off with
a colour of little consistency ; and as to the imperfect manner
in which so many of them are printed, it is sufficiently ac-'
counted for by the natural supposition, that some were taken off
before the discovery of a proper printing press ; others, of a later
date, printed by goldsmiths, who, though not ignorant of the
existence of such an apparatus, were, nevertheless, unprovided
with it, and were, consequently, obliged, in taking off such im-
pressions, to have recourse to the friction of some smooth body,
or the insufficient pressure of a common roller. I, myself once
tried the effect of taking two or three impressions from a deeply
etched copper-plate, by means of a common roller, pressed over
damped paper with all the force I could use : the etching being
first filled with oil paint of a brown colour. Each of the impres-
sions> so taken, differed from the rest ; being more or less defective
in some parts^ according to the inequality of pressure with which
the roller passed over the plate in each operation. All of thenr
strongly resembled designs done with a pen ; and an engraver of
considerable ability, being shewn one of them on the same evening,
was for some time deceived into the belief that it was really an
original drawing. But however imperfect these impressions were,
from the want of sufficient pressure, I am well satisfied that a sul-

342 BARTSCH S ARGUMENT EXAMINED, [chap. t.

phur cast could not have resisted half the force used in producing
them. As to the argument drawn by our author from the silence of
contemporary Italian writers respecting the promulgation of Maso's
new discovery, it will be best answered by requesting him to inform
us of the names of those German writers who, from 1465 to 1480^
have recorded the labours of their contemporaries and country men»
the engraver who marked (^;3 * ^^rtin Schongauver, Israel Van
Meek, and others.

Mr. Bartsch strongly urges the paucity of these proofs of the
Italian goldsmiths from their vrorks of nieUo.

*^ To hear Lanzi, indeed/' says he, '^ one would suppose that
'' the number of these proofs of meUo was very considerable, that
one could perceive in them the difference of schools, and that
they were dispersed throughout every province of Italy. But on
** careful examination of what is said by that eloquent author, one
^' discovers, that his arguments, however ingenious, are not sustained
'^ by solid and satisfiictory proof. Where, we ask him, is this great
** number of impressions of works of mello ? He himself only speaks
*' of those preserved in the Durazzo cabinet, at Genoa. We are
^' not acquainted with those pieces, but we have every reason to
** believe that their number does not much exceed that of the
thirty-two which have been since given to the public in the
copies, which we shall hereafter describe.* We inquire of him,
*' which are the collections, not only in Italy, but in all Europe,
" where prints of this sort are to be found ? We ourselves have
seen several of these great collections, and we are acquainted
with the most celebrated, as well by catalogues, as through other
^ channels of information; but we have found them all, either
*^ entirely destitute of, or very scantily provided with, prints of this
'^ kind. The rich, the immense imperial collection of prints at
" Vienna, never possessed one single piece.'*
To these assertions of Mr. Bartsch, and to his questions (for the

* Bartsch's descriptioitt of these interestiiig specimens have been already ptea.

€€
ii

CHAP, v.] BARTSCirS ARGUMENT EXAMINED. d4S

respected Lanzi is no longer amongst us to answer for himself)
I reply : first, that I consider it very possible that some of these
proofe may have eluded his search — if, indeed, he ever searched for
them, except with the hopes of not finding them — amongst ancient
anonymous prints. It is next to impossible that the immense Im-
perial Collection at Vienna should not contain a single example of
that description; unless we may suppose it to have been, at all times,
a part of the office of keeper of that collection, to turn out or destroy,
as noxious intruders, dangerous to the pretensions of Germany to
priority in chalcography, whatever specimen of the kind was from
time to time discovered. Secondly, I answer, that I apprehend
the fact is not as he has stated it. These proofs of the Italian gold-^
smiths from their works of niello, or other engravings in silver, are
not so very uncommon as he would lead us to suppose. Of what
description, I would ask in my turn, are the twenty-four pieces in
the collection of Mr. Otto, at Leipzig, which Heineken and Huber
ascribed to Finiguerra^ and which Bartsch has inserted in an ap*
pendix to his catalogue of anonymous prints by Italian engravers
of the fifteenth century ?* Does it not appear probable, from their
descriptions, that some of them, at least, are proofs taken by an
Italian goldsmith, from his works of niello, or other engravings for
the decoration of plate? Do not Heineken and Huber, in their
accounts of these prints, observe of some of them, that they appear
to be the impressions of engravings executed ON the lids of small
boxes ? Besides, some collections that Mr. Bartsch is acquainted
with, appear to be ^^ scantily provided with the impressions of works
" ofmeUo'' — ^Why omit them in his catalogues?

But the extreme rarity of these proo6 of works of niello, if ad-
mitted, is not so strong an argument, as Bartsch would insinuate,
against the prevalence of the custom amongst the Italian goldsmiths
in those early times. It is reasonable to suppose that they seldom
took more than two or three impressions from any one engraving,

* These pieces will be described in our next chapter.

344 BARTSCITS ARGUMENT EXAMINED- [chap. v.

|>revious to filling it with tdeUo, when it became no longer capable
of being printed. Many of these proo& have been^ doubtless^
destroyed; others lost; a catastrophe to which> from the minute
dimensions of most of them, they are especially subject ; others still
remain, unheeded, amongst old collections of drawings ; and others,
better printed than the rest, for there can be no doubt of the gokl*^
smiths having, by degrees, improved the process by which they
obtained these impressions, escape, undistinguished, in volumes oi
portfolios of old engravings. For where the impression of a work
of niello happens to have been well taken off, and there is no in*
i^cription upon it, which, by presenting its characters reversed, may
serve to ascertain it, it may not be so easily known. I have already
described half a dozen small prints in my own small collection^
which, I am fully convinced, are of the number of these proofs of
the Italian goldsmiths : some of them are printed with tolerable
e£Fect ; others, less perfectly ; but, as they are destitute of inscrip-
tions, I would not undertake to convince Mr. Bartsch that they are,
really, what I consider them.

Ought not the confessed rarity of the prints, even of the early
German school, to have deterred Mr. Bartsch from having recourse
to such an argument ? The plates of all these appear to have
been engraved for the express purpose of publication, and, conse-*
quently, may be supposed to have furnished many impressions : for
Germany produces no document, from which it may be conjectured
that its goldsmiths of the fifteenth century practised working in
piello, or that, previous to the discovery of a well constructed press,
they made any attempts to procure impressions from their en-
gravings on metal. And yet that writer informs us, in the preface
to his Catalogues of the German engravers, from 1466 to the latter
part of the sixteenth century, '* that so great was the rarity of the
^* prints described in those Catalogues, that he had only chanced
* to see one single impression of about half of them ;' although he
had had recourse to all the great collections at Vienna.

Having demonstrated, as he conceives, that few, if any, of these

€€

<5HAF. v.j BAHTSCH^ ABGUMENT EXAMINED. 346

proofs of the early Italian goldsmiths exists excepting those in the
DurazTO Cabinet, Bartsch next proceeds, with great ingenuity,
to $hew that the idea of their having ever been general throughout
Italy, has little or no foundation, and that, after all, the whole of
those existing may be the work of one artist.

With' regard to the authors of these prints,'* (says he) *' it is
very difficult to determine their number, or to prove that they
*< resided in different cities of Italy. The inequality of execution
/* observed in them, is, perhaps, only a deceitful variety ; and
" it is very possible that the pieces attributed to t^n* different
*' masters are the work of but two, nay, perhaps, even of but one
^' artist"

^VThe inscriptions upon a few of them, indicating, in one instance^
'* the city of Bologna, in two others, the dialect of Lombardy, are
** not such certain attestations of their origin, as Lanzi seems to sup^
f* pose ; . since the former, inscribed with the name of a family, and
y the two latter, containing devices, may have been, in feet, executed
by one and the sanie goldsmith, resident at Florence, in exact
and literal conformity to the desire of three amateurs ; one of
'^ whom lived at Bologna, the others, in some town of Lombardy/^
Would it be believed that Bartsch, whilst he thus wrote, knew
that one of the proofs of which he speaks, was taken from an un*
doubted work of Francesco Francia of Bologna ?f

It is hardly necessary to urge the want of candour, evinced in
this argument, and the monstrous improbability of its writer's hy-
pothesis. He is obliged to abandon it, and proceeds :

But even allowing that there may have been several gold-
smiths, who left impressions of their works of niello^ and who
^ resided, either in the same city, or in various cities of Italy, .it is
.*' most certain, that in their exercise of the newly discovered art,

* Jp the absence of the Abate Pom'n Cabinet, were the work of ten different
work, I am led to conjecture, from the above goldsmiths.

passage, that that writer was of opinion, that f Viz. the mello of the Crucifixion, de-
tiie proofs of works of niello, in the I>iira220 scribed No. 4, p. 324, of this chapter.

2 Y

44
44

346 BARTSCH'S ARGUMENT EXAMINED. {cbap. v.

*^ they did not advance one step beyond Maso their prototype/' —
That is, Maso, it is almoit certain, never got beyond his impressions
taken from sulphurs, and the other goldsmiths of Italy, most cer-
tainly, never advanced one single step towards the further improve-
ment of the new art, till about 1460.

Where Mr. Bartsch got this intelligence, he has omitted to inform
us. I answer, that the reverse is almost certain.

" It is, moreover, remarkable,*' continues he, " that Vasari
*' places the discovery of Finiguerra about the year 1460 ; that
^^ is, several years later than it really took place ; and that he
says that Finiguerra was followed by Baldini ; who, nevertheless,
does not make his appearance as an engraver, with any degree of
certainty, until 1477, in the two prints,'' Bartsch ought to have
said three, ^ which he engraved for the work printed at Florence,
^* under the title of IL monte santo di dio."

^' Vasari, indeed, it is well known, is not always implicitly to
^ be depended on; nevertheless, his absolute silence as to the
** existence of engravings printed from the time of Finiguerra*s dis-
" covery until Baldini, proves sufficiently that he had never seen
** any. This, his silence, confirms our opinion; namely, that
•' Finiguerra was blind to the importance of his discovery ; that
*^ the goldsmiths his contemporaries had not the wit to make any
*' thing of it ; that the one and the others satisfied themselves witli
casting their sulphurs, and taking from them as many impres-
sions as their fragile nature would permit ; that is to say, a num*
ber, at best, very inconsiderable."

Such was the languishing state of the art in Italy, when a
native of Germany published prints, which, the moment they
are looked at, leave not the smallest room to doubt that they
were engraved on plates of copper, and printed with a press.
We speak of the excellent artist whose name is unknown, but
** who used the initials (^;3* ^^^ whom we term the engraver of
« the year 1466."

Here Mr. Bartsch comes to the point. Italy, he says, had made

$4
44

44
»f

44
44
€f

CMA*. v.l BARTSCaS AltQUMENT EXAMINED. 347;

BO step whatever, towards perfecting the new art, when a Ger-'
man artist surprised the world by the production of fine prints ! I.
Let me now be permitted to make a few observations upon this
specious tissue of gftrbled evidence, false premises, and unwarranted
conclusions ; fabricated, with more ingenuity than fairness, for the
purpose of depriving Italy of the' honours due to her as inventress
of chalcography, and transferring them to Germany.

Where, I would ask, did Mr* Bartsch learn that Baldini did not
make his appearance as an engraver, with any degree of certainty,
until 1477, in the prints of the Monte Santo di Dio? Where is
his authority for ascrilnng those prints to Baldini at all? They
indeed may be by that artist, and probably are so : but neither
Vasari nor any other old writer says one word of the. matter. Is
Baldini mentioned in the preface or in the colophon of diat curious
book, as the author of the engravings which it contains ? No— on
the contraiy, no mention whatever is made of those embelUshments>
a circumstance which, of itself^ seems snffident to prove tiiat prints
were^ at that time, no new things at Florence. For had they been
the first public essays of the chalcographic art in that city^ there
can be little doubt that Nicolo della Magna, the publi^er, would
have made a merit of the introduction of such novel decorations;
dwelling on the utility and importance of the new art, as did the
publisher of the geography of Ptolemy, printed at Bologna, and
bearing date 1462 ; a date whidb probably requires amendment;
and, it is thought, ought to have been 1472.

How came Mr. Bartsch, upon this occasion, to forget to men-
tion the very curious Florentine almanack described by Strutt,
and accompanied by seven small folio prints, representing the
seven planets, with their attributes; a work which he himself^
admits must have been engraved as early as 1464 ; — that is, two
years prior to the earliest date he had been able to discover on
any German engraving on metal — ^and whose magnitude certainly
opposes the idea of its having been a first essay of the art, or of
the artist, whoever he was ? The artist, indeed, Mr Bartsch, seems

2 y2

S48

B ARTSCffS ARGUMENT EXAMINBD: [caaf. r.

afterwards to think, was fialdini ; for he describes the seines, in the
supplement to his list of the prints attributed by him to that en^
graver. Why did he withhold this information on the present occa^
sion ? The answer is obvious ; — ^he well knew that, had he introduced
it, his fevourite hypothesis must instantly have fidlen to the ground.
The fabric he had raised with so much care, was built on another's
ireehold. Still the sojourn was so much to his taste, that he could
not resolve to quit it. His title was bad, but he flattered himself
that it would escape investigation; that the plausible arguments
he had used in its support would have their intended effect, and
that he would be left in undisturbed possession. Before the im->
partial tribunal of truth, he is soon discomfited ; his eloquence is of
little avail, and the right owner is once more re-established in his
invaded property.

So much for Bartsch's argument. Had that author been satisfied
to urge, on the behalf of Germany, that that nation was, next to
Italy, the first to practise engraving on copper ; and that its pro^
fessors ^eatly contributed to the advancement and perfection
of the new art; no reasonable person could have denied assent
to his proposition : but when, at the close of his discourse, he
reconmiends that Italy and Germany should shake hands, and
equally divide between them the honour of the invention, we are
reminded of the man, who, when he found he must lose his law-
suit, modestly offered to be satisfied with one half of the estate
which had been the subject of litigation.

CHAP. VI.] ANCIENT FLORENTINE ENGRAVERS. 949

CHAPTER VL

The Works of Ancient Engraoers of the Florentine School, described*
Baccio Baldini — Sandro BotticdB — Antonio del BoUajuolo. An^
dent Prints of this School by unknown Artists. Other early FUh
rentine Engraoers. Gherardo. Robetta..

XN the brief sketch given in the preceding chapter^ of the pro«*
gress of the art of taking impressions from engraved plates of metal^
from its invention by Finiguerra, to the final establishment of
chalcc^raphy, we have distinguished that art^ after the example vX
Lanzi> into three states of advancement : we have there^ also, spoken
of the proo& taken by the goldmiths from their works of nieUo, ^t
other engravings for the decoration of plate ; because, in the ar^
rangement of a collection of ancient prints, these seem to merit the
first consideration ; as constituting a distinct class, illustrative of
the art we treat of in its^r^f or infrmt state*

The impressions of other ancient engravings, executed on sofi^er
or coarser metals than copper, or printed by an imperfect process,
may, in like manner, as Lanzi observes, be considered as the
monuments of the new art during its second stage of advance-
ment ; and, consequently, may naturally appear to merit the
being placed in a second corresponding class. Many difficulties,
however, oppose themselves to such an arrangement, in a work
like the present ; and the following objections to it may suffice
to justify the method intended to be- pursued in the ensuing

S60 B ACCIO EALDINI. [c»af. ri.

pages : viz. that we find impressions of the same plate, some of
them, apparently taken off with an imperfect apparatus, and a tint
of little consistency, (and these are, probably, the earliest,) and
others, printed with a powerfiil press and dark glutinous oil colour.
So that were we to attempt the above classification, the print
which, from the imperfectness of the impression we had chanced to
see, we had classed amongst the examples of the art in its second
stage of advancement, might be found, in another collection,
printed with all the strength and power of the finest print of Marc
Antoiiio ; the finest impressions of whose engravings have, as is
well known, a richness and depth of colour not to be surpassed.
Moreover, in such, a classification^ it would be necessary, in many
instances, to separate t]|;iewxNrks of the same engraver ; as in the
case of Mantegna, who, having practised the art of engraving
whilst in its second or imperfect state, lived long enough afterr
wards to contribute, by his example, to its fiaal perfection and
establishment

In the descriptions, therefore, of ancient prints, which we now
proceed to lay befi>re the readerr we shall dass the engravings of
each school, as nearly as posiaiblei, in chronological order ; without,
however, separating the known works of any one master firom each
other ; and in the few instances in whidi the writings of Vasari, or
any other writer of authority, fiimish materials, we shall give some
account of the artists themselves, as well as of their performances.
Of the inventor, Finiguerra, we have spoken fully in a former
chapter : Baldini next appears to claim our notice.

BACCIO BALDINL

All the information we possess ccmceming this ancient engraver,
is contained in a short .passage of Vasari ; wherein that writer,
afi;er having recorded the story of Finiguerra's discovery, relates
that *' he was followed by Baccio Baldini, a Florentine goldsmith.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. a«l

^ who not being a very skilful designer, engraved all that he did
'' from the inventions and designs of Sandro Botticelli/'^

This account, scanty as it is, cannot safely be taken in a
rigidly literal sense. It is not credible that Botticelli, who wai
an artist of eminence, constantly Dccu{ned in large works of
painting, should have found time, on all occasions, to make design!
for Baldini to engrave from ; and, indeed, he was sometimes
employed, for a length of time together, at a distance from Flo-
rence; as in the years 1473-4, wiien he superintended and ami^:ed
in the execution of the £nesbo paintings, made by the order of
Sixtus IV., in the chapel newly erected by him in the palace of
the Vatican, at Rome. Nor can the expres^on, that Baldini was
not a skilful designer, justify our supposition that he was exr
tremely defective in a part of the art in which, at all times, it
was especially the pride of the artists of the Florentine school to
excel. Perhaps Vasari meant to say no more than that Baldini,
in comparisMi of many other artists of Florence of the same periods
was inferior in design and invention; and that, consequently, for
many of his principal works of engraving, he availed himself of
the designs of Botticelli and other masters.

We have before had occasion to observe, that Vasari, in thK
short account of the infancy of chalcography prefixed to his lives
of Marc Antonio and others, betrays evident impatience to pro^
ceed. Finiguerra, Bddini, and Mantegna, are indeed the only
three ancient engravers of the Italian school that he liiere men-^
tions ; although^ in other parts of his work, he speaks of die
engravings of Pollajuolo and Botticelli. It seems, therefore,
reasonable to ccmclude, from his notice of Baldini in this plac^
that that artist held an eminent rank amongst the professional en-
gravers of Florence of his time ; and, especially, that his works

* ^' Fu s^;uitato costui da Baccio Baldini, ** con inventione, e disegno di Sandro Bot*
** Orefice Fiorentino, il quale non havendo '^ ticelfi."
'^ molto disegno, tntto qudlo, die fece^ fit

352 BACCIO BALDINi: [chap, vu

were numerous, and well known^ Now we possess many en-^
gravings, which, at the same time that they bear every charac-^
teristic mark of the Florentine school of this early period, appear
also, from the peculiarities of their style and execution, to be
the productions of one artist : and perhaps the above consideration
may be deemed sufficient to justify the conjecture, that those pieces
are really by fialdini*

' We commence the catalogue of Baldini'B supposed works, with
a description of twenty-four prints, which were formerly in the
cabinet of the celebrated Baron de Stosch, who became possessed
of them during a long residence at Florence. They were pur*
chased, after the death of Stosch^ by M. Otto, of Ldpzig, and
were ascribed, by Heineken* and Huber,f to Maso Finiguerra*
Bartsch, who saw a duplicate impression of one of them, (No^ 4,)
assures us, that they are by the same engraver who executed the
3et of fifty prints, known in Italy under the title of II Giuoco di
rTarocchi 4 ^^ assurance to which we are inclined to give the more
credit, as Heineken has given us the fac-similes of two others, (of
which . copies will be presently presented to the reader,) which,
upon examination, appear to justify the remark. We are aware
that the circumstance of one or two of the titles, under the figures
of the Giuoco di Tarocchi, being written in the Venetian dialect,
may appear to constitute a reasonable ground for the opinion
stated by Lanzi,§ and afterwards by Zani, || that those engravings
are of the Venetian or Paduan school ; but a very careful com-
cparison of many of them with various ancient engravings of the
JPlorentine school, and„ amongst the rest, with the three prints
published in 1477, at Florence, in the^ Monte Santo di Dio, has as-

* Bt^t ildci}ncf)ten, p. 881, et seq. indeed, says that these prints are ascribed, by

t ** Manuel dea Amatenrs de YAtt,^ good judges, to Mant^na. In answer to

to|i|. ui* pr ^, et se5[. this, I can only say that I find not in them

% '' Pdntre Graveur," torn, xiii^ p. 142. die smallest resemblance to his style.
§ <* Storia Pittorica,'' torn. i. p. 82. Lanzi, | « Materiali," &c, p» 70.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. 353

sured us, that they are really Florentine ; and, indeed, t^at they
are by the hand of the same individual engraver.

Huber observes, that, after an examination of the twenty-four
pieces in question, he is obliged to confess, that although the en-
gravings of the German artists, of the same period, are superior
to those of the Italians, in the mani^ment of the burin ; the latter
have infinitely the advantage, in the grace ^id contour of the
figures, and the taste with which they are composed.

No. I. "A female, almost naked, lying upon the ground; per-
" haps intended for Venus ; above, is a scroll with these words :

" AMOR VUOL FE E DOVE FE NONN E, AMOB NGN PUG. This subject

" appears to have been engraved on the top of an oval box. The
" same inscription is to be found on No. 17."

A careful imitation of the copy given by Heineken of this piece,
will enable the reader to form some judgment of its style ; which a
good deal resembles that of the. Cupid riding on the Dolphin, in-
troduced at page 333.

2. "A young man and a young woman, who serve as supporters
to a circular shield, upon which the arms of the Medici family are
3 z

354

BACCIO BALDINI.

[chap. VI.

*^ sketched with a pen : two short inscriptions at top^^ as the reader
♦' will perceive from the following copy, are added in the same
'^ manner. At the bottom of the shield, is a vase of flowers ; and,
^' upon it, is a basket filled with apples ; of which fruit each of the
^' figures holds one in the air. The female is dressed in the Greek
^^ costume, and has two girdles. This subject appears to have been
^^ engraved on the lid of a round box.

'* Diameter, 4 inches 3*4ths.

SwaineSc.

3. " A circular print, with a large border, composed of eight
*' bunches of fruit, tied together; in the middle is a half-length
** figure of a corpulent young man, whose head is encircled with

mW ' ■ J W^

^^W

CHAP, ri.] BACCIO BALBINL 9&&

'' vine-leaves : he has a paroquet on his shoulder, and is playing on
'^ the guitar.

'' Diameter, 7 inches 1.4th.

4. '' Another circle, representing a naked Cupid, at the period
" of adolescence, with a bandage over his eyes, and his wings ex-
^^ tended. His arms are tied over his head to a tree, to which he
^^ is also bound near the feet and at the waist On each side of
^ him are two females, magnificently dressed in the fashion of the
^' time : the first, on the left side,* menaces him with a &ui ; the
'* second, with two arrows and a broken bow; the third, on the
^^ opposite side, holds a quiver, and threatens him with a spindle,
'* and the fourth advances towards him with a knife.

^^ Diameter, 7 inches one-half.

5. *^ Another circle, wherein is represented the same Cupid ; his
eyes bandaged, and his wings extended, with his hands tied be*
hind his back. On each side of him, as in the print last described,
are two women : the first seizes him by one of his wings ; the
second pulls him by the ribbon which supports his quiver, and
menaces him with a battledore ; the third is going to strike him
with a large sword, and the fourth has a pair of scissars.

'' Diamet^, 6 inches one-half.

6/ ^^ Another circle, surrounded by an <Mmam^it of foliage,
wherein are introduced eight ovab ; each containing a Cupid
playing upon a musical instrument : beautiful little figures, exe-
cuted with great delicacy. In the round space, within this border.

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* Bartich, vol. liii. p. 142, ptetactB his To prasenre inifonnitjr, therefore, in the

account of these pieces by 9vpag, ** Ea present work, I haye, where the left or the

^ traoscrivant ici le ditaQ de M. Huber, r^A^-hand of the print is referred to, made

''nous remarquerons seulement, que cet the necessary alteration in the word. By the

*' auteur appelle le c6t6 dnnt ce que nous rq^t, I meai^4iat pait of a prmt which is

^' nommoQs le c6ti gMcki, et vice versa." <qnpoate to die lif^it-hand of the s|toctator.

2 Z 2

966 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap« vi.

'^ are two heads of a man and a woman, in profile, looking at each
" other : above is a small fillet, on which is written with the hand :
'' dammi canforto. Heineken, (iBnte IdB^M^tm, p. 283,) does not
'* mention this inscription.

u n;««..f.. 7 inches 1.4th.

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7. " Another circle, surrounded by a border of foliage, in which
are six upright ovals ; each containing a Cupid playing on a
musical instrument ; as in the preceding print. At the bottom is
another oval, lengthways ; in which are two figures, lying on the
ground, of a naked woman, and a man who presents her with a

** carnation. In the circle, in the middle, are two elegant figures of
'' a gentleman and lady dancing.

^^ Diameter, 8 inches.

8. ** .Another circle, with a border composed of fruits. The
middle represents a landscape, in which is seen a bear attacked
by five large dogs. Above, between two orange-trees, are two

^^ cartouches, upon which the balls of the arms of the Medici fiunily
'^ are traced with a pen and ink, as in No. 2.

^^ Diameter, 8 inches.

9. ** Another circle, in a little border. The scene represents a
garden, in the near-ground of which is a cavalier playing on the
guitar : he is seated by the side of a lady, finely dressed, who has

*^ a garland, in one hand, and, in the other, a rose, and whose robe
'' is embroidered with pomegranates. Between these two figures, is
^^ another lady standing, plajring on a small harp; and above,
'' near an inclosure, two lovers are seen caressing each other. On
** the right, is a table laid out with fruit, and a large vase.

'' Diameter, 6 inches one-half

10. '' Another circle, surrounded by a small border of foliage.
'' Hie inside presents a monstrous face, seen in firont, with large eyes.

€i
U
44

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. SSSf

" and two hands^ which open the mouth with two of the fingers, in
'^ such a manner as to shew all the teeth.

" Diameter, 7 inches l-8th.

11. '^ Another round print, where, within a border of laurel, is a
^' cartouch, without any inscription ; and, on each side, a medallion,
** also in a border of laurel, attached, by ribbons, to that in the
'' middle. The medallion on the left contains the half-length
figure of a young man in. profile, with a flower in his hand ; that
on the right, a lady seen in front. Above, a dog is seen attack-
ing a stag, and a hare running away : below, a dog is seizing a
wild boar, and another dog is devouring a hare.

'* Diameter, . 6 inches.

13. *^ Another circle, in which is represented, in a landscape, a
lady, whose head is decorated with a large garland of flowers : she
^' is seated, holding a unicorn between her knees, which she caresses
'^ with the one hand, whilst, with the other, she holds a collar, to
put about its neck ; that she may tie it to the trunk of a tree,
which is behind her. At her feet is a little dog ; and, on each
side, a tree, from which hangs a tablet, or cartouch, without any
inscription.

'' Diameter, 6 inches l-4th.

13. '* Another circle, in which is represented Judith, standing,
dressed in the antique costume, and holding, in her left-hand,
the head of Holofemes, whilst, with her right, she brandishes an
enormous sabre over her head. The body of Holofemes is behind
her, extended on the ground. On each side is a tree ; to the trunk

*' of one of which is affixed a cartouch, without inscription.

'^ Diameter, 5 inches d-8ths.

14. '' Another circle, representing the same subject ; though with
'^ some variation. Judith is standing, holding the head of Holo-

44
44
44

44
4t
44
44

358 BACCIO BALDINL [chap. vi.

'^ femes with one hand, and, with the other, a large sabre, the
point of which is inclined downwards. She is richly dressed, and
has a crown on her head. Behind ha is the dead body, extended
on the ground.

^* Diameter, 5 inches l-4th.

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15. '^ Another circle, in which are represented a gentleman and
a lady, promenading in a landscape ornamented with three
cypresses ; and a young man in the fore-ground, playing on the
pipe and tabor.

^^ Diameter. 5 inches 5-8ths.

16. '* Another circular print, in the middle of which is a space
** intended to contain armorial bearings. On the right is a young
^^ warrior, who holds a small scroll in his left-hand, on which is
^ written *—6iANSON. With his right-hand, he sustains a large

ornamental vase, assisted by a young female, dressed in the
Greek costume, who is placed on the other side of die print, and

'^ who also holds a scroll, on which is written — medea. Beneath is

^^ a small figure of a ram.

** Diameter, 6 inches.

17. *^ Another circle, wherein, on the right of the print, is seen
** a cavalier standing upon a piece of rock, holding in his right-
^* hand a scroll, containing these words — ^amor vuol fe, e dove
^^ fe nonne — and sustaining a sphere ; assisted by a female, dressed
** after the antique costume, who is standing on a rock on the
'' opposite side of the print : she also holds a scroll, on which are
'* these words — ^amob non puo. The head of a cherubim serves
** as support to a circle in the middle, which is left empty.

^ Diameter, 5 inches d-4ths.

* Quei7or-if writteo or engniv^d f

ti
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CHAP. TI.] BACCIO BALDINI. 359

■

18. ^^ Another circle ; in the middle c^ which is a globe, intended
^' to contain armorial bearings. On the right, is a young lady ;

and, on the left; a young cavalier. These two figures hold a crown
of laurel oy^ the globe. Above, in the air, is a Cupid, who

" shoots an arrow at the cavalier ; and beneath is a dog asleep upon

'' some herbage.

^' Diameter, 4 inches 3-4ths.

19. '^ Another circle ; in which is seen a man, whose hands and
arms are tied to a tree; and a woman, who is shewing him the
heart, which she has been tearing from his bosom : on each side is
an escutcheon hung to a tree.

** Diameter, 4 inches.

20. ** Another circle, in which is represented a guardian angel,
with large extended wings, dressed in a pontifical habit and a
mitre, leading an infant by the hand: the back-ground is a

landscape.

^^ Diameter, 4 inches.

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21. '' An oval, 8 inches l-4th in length, by 4 inches in height
** Two Cupids supporting, by long ribbons, a circular border of
^* fruits and foliage; in the midst of which is a little Cupid standing,
'' his eyes bandaged, and his wings extemied, holding in one hand
'* his bow, and, in the other, an arrow.

22* ^' Another oval, 9 inches l-4th in length, by 4 inches in
height In the middle is represented a car, surmounted by a
tro{^y of gabions which throw out flames, and drawn by
'* Cupids ; some playing on musical instruments^ others carrying
<< torches. The procession is opened by a Cu[»d who bears a
'^ standard ornamented with flames, on which is insoribed — ^pubita;
'' and is terminated by another Cupid, bearing a similar standard,
** on which are these words— AL FVOOBOIL.

300 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap, vi

23. " Another oval, 7 inches 3-8th8 in length, by: 2 inches 3-8ths
in height, representing two females elegantly dressed, seated
in a landscape, and supporting a border formed of two cornu-
copias. Tlie circular space in the middle is empty. A fine
impression.

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24. *' Another oval, 6 inches d-4ths in length, by 2 inches 3-4ths
" in height, representing two warriors, each with one knee on the
*' ground, who support an escutcheon of an octagon form, on which
'' is the figure of a female, dressed in the antique costume, with her
'* hands raised towards heaven."

Heineken says, that these pieces do not appear to have been
printed with a press ; but, in the manner described by Vasari, by
the application of a common roller moved backwards and forwards.
The impression of one of them. No. 6, is, he adds, taken off double,
in consequence of the paper having got a crease during the opera--
tion. Huber observes of them generally, that they are, for the most
part, well printed and in good preservation.

Heineken and Huber both remark of the two first of these prints,
tiiat they appear to have been engraved on tbe tops of boxes ; an
assertion which seems ill to accord with the circumstance of the
inscription upon No. 1, being in its proper direction. At least it is
so in Heineken's copy ; and that inscription, unlike the inscriptions
and the arms of the Medici family on No. 2, (which, in the original,
are added with a pen,) bears every mark of an engraved inscription.
It is, indeed possible, that in the original of No. 1, the inscrip-
tion may be reversed ; and that Heineken's engraver, who, most
probably, worked only firom a finished tracing, may have erro-
neously copied the vnrong side of that tracing* Such an error,
in case he had not been apprised of the peculiar nature of the ori*
ginal print, and, consequently, of the importance of the circum-
9tmf^^, would, indeed, be extremely likely to happen : certainly
much more so than that the German critic should not have re-

CHAP, VI J BACCIO BALDINL 361

jQected, that if fte figures, with the inscription, had been engraved
on the top of a box, that inscription would naturally have been
engraved in the direction used in writing, from left to right ; and
that oonsequently, in such case, the inscription in the impression
ivould appear, as in oriental writings, from right to left. Huber,
however, who wrote after Heineken, has given no explanation of
the apparent anomaly, and Bartsch copies the descriptions of the
last mentioned writer, verbatim, without comment. The reader
is, therefore, left to determine the point in question upon the pre-
ponderance of probabilities ; and I will only add concerning it,
that the circular or oval form of most of these engravings, is
in favour of the supposition, that they are really the impres-
sions taken by some goldsmith, from engravings executed
upon plate, or other ornamental ftimiture; and that the pro-
bability of such being the case, is further strengthened by
the circumstance that, with the exception of No. 4, of which
Bartsch informs us he saw a duplicate, they appear to be
unique.

Amongst the first uses to which the new art of chalcography
appears to have been applied, was that of making almanacks, play-
ing cards, and, we may doubtless add, devotional pieces. Of the
former kind^ Strutt discovered a set of engravings, in the collection
of Dr. Monro, which are certainly of the old Florentine school,
and most probably by Baldini ; at least they bear so strong a resem-
blance of manner to the three prints in the Monte Santo di Dio, and
several other pieces usually ascribed to that engraver, as to leave
no doubt that they are by the same hand. It is, however, proper
to observe, that the impressions of these engravings, which are now
preserved in the collection of the British Museum, appear to have
been taken off after the plates had been worn by repeated use,
and rudely retouched all over ; so that they want much of that
sofiness and delicacy of appearance, which no doubt the early
impressions possessed : it is remarkable that, nevertheless, no other

30S BACCIO BALDINL [chap. ti.

impresfflons of them are known. We shall descrM>e them in Mr.
Strutt's own words.*

* These curious and valuable specimens of ancient engraving,
which, I believe/ says Mr. Struti, ^ are unique, must have been exe-
cuted as early as the year 1464 The set consists of eight plates ;

namely, the seven planets, and an almanack, by way of frontis-
piece, on which are directions for finding Easter, from the year
1465 to 1517 inclusive; and the dates regularly follow each other,
which plainly proves that there can be no mistake with respect
to the first ; and we may be well assured, in this case, the engravings
were not antedated ; for the almanack of course became less and
less valuable every year.'

L * The almanack,' continues Mr. Strutt, ' exhibits a calendar
of the saints' days, and a calculation of the day on which Easter
would fall, firom 1465 to 1517 inclusive. Upon twdve small
circles in the middle of the plate, are represented the employ-
ments for the twelve months of the year, with the zodiacal sign
belonging to each month ; and the gradual increase and decrease
of the days, is expressed by the extent of the shadow upon the
border, within which these delineations are inclosed. Tliey are
as follow :

* January. An elderly gentleman seated at a table, spread
with provisions, near the fire, holding a glass with liquor in his
hand.

* Febbuary. The gardener digging his ground.

' March. The employment of the two figures represented in this
compartment is rather obscure ; probably the man is planting shrubs
or herbs in the garden, according to the direction of the lady who
is standing by him.

* Dictionary of Engraven, vol i. p. \5, pieces; the almanack and the planet Venus,
and pp. 25. 26. 27. Mr. Strutt has also PI. IL and III. of die same work,
given very faithful copies of two of these

CHAP, vi.] BACCIO BALDINI. 063

*' April. HaiVirking, and hunting the hare.

* May. Running at the ring.

* June. Mowing.

^ July. Gathering in corn, and thrashing.

^ August. Sickness : the doctor is examining the urinal.

* September. Gathering grapes.

* October. Making wine.
^ November. Ploughing.

* December. Killing of swine, and providing good fare for
Christmas.

' The following directions are written in Italian, at the bottom
of the plate : If you wiU hum when Easter shall be, find the date of the
year in this engnwing, the letter A landing for April, and the letter
Mfor March.

* This plate represents the planet Venus : she appears in the
clouds^ riding in her chariot drawn by doves, accompanied by
Cupid, who has just discharged an arrow at one of the ladies stand'-
ing in a balcony : at a distance we see an unfortunate lover upon
his knees, invoking the assistance of the deity : the rest of the
figures appear to be immediately under the direction of her powerful
influence. On the wheels oi her chariot are represented the Bull
and the Balance, with these inscriptions^^^TORO and bilance-*
the signs of the zodiac, over which this planet was supposed to
preside.

* At the bottom of this, and the six other plates, are inscriptions,
importing the properties of the planets represented upon diem.
I shall give the following entire as a specimen for the whole.

VENERE . E SEGVO . FEMIi^NO . POSTA . NEL TESZO . CIELO . fllEDDA
. E VMIDA . TENPERATA LA aUALE . AQVESTE . PROPRIETA . EAMA BELLf
. VESTIMENTI . ORNATI DORO . E DAR6ENT0 . E CHANZONE E OAVDII . E
GVOCHI . ET . E LACIVA . £T HA DOLCE PARLARE . EBELLA NELLIOCHI .
B NELLA . FRONTE . E DI . CORPO . LEG6IEBI * PISNA . BI CARNE . E DI .

3 a2

364 BACCIO BALDINL [chap. vi.

MEZZANA . STATVRA . DATA . A . TVTTI . OPEKE . CIRCA • ALLA . BEUZZA
# . ET . E SOTTO POSTO . ALLEI . LOTTONE E . IL . SVO . GIORNO . EVENERDI
. E LA • PRIMA . HORA . 8 . 15 . ET 22 • E . LA . NOTTE . SVA . E MARTS
DI . E IL • SVOAMICO . E GIOVE . EL NIMICO . MERCVRIO . ET • HA • DVE
HABITATIONNI . EL . TORO . DI . GIORNO . E LIBRA . DI . NOTTE . E PER
CONSIGLIERE . EL • SOLE . E LAVITE . SVA . EXALTATIONS . EIL PESCE .
ELA MORTE EDVMIUAZIONE . E VIRGO . E . VA . IN 10 MESI • 12 SENGI .
INCOMINCANDO . DA UBERA . E IN 25 . GIORNO . VA VNO . SENGNO . EIN .
VN GIORNO . VA VNO GRADO . E 12 MINVTI . E . IN VNA ORA • 30 MINVTI.

[It is not worth while to attempt the translation of this astrolo-
gical stuffy and we, therefore, immediately proceed to Mr. Strutt's
description of the next plate.]

III. * GiovE— Jupiter. He is seated in his chariot, in the clouds^
with a crown upon his head, and a dart in his lefl-hand ; before him
is represented Ganymede, kneeling, with a small vase in one hand,
and a cup in the other. The chariot is drawn by two eagles ; and
on the wheels are the two signs, Sagittarius and the Fishes, with the
words SAGiTARio and pisce. The distance is a mountainous coun-
try, with figures, on horseback and on foot, hunting and hawking :
in the fore-ground, towards the right, we see an emperor upon his
throne, with figures, doing him homage; and, to the left, three
figures, representing (as it is supposed) Boccacio, Dante, and
Petrarch, seated in an alcove, &c. with the inscription underneath,
beginning thus : —

GIOVE . EPIANETA . BIASCVUNO . POSTO . NEL SESTO . CIELO . CALDO .
B HVMIDO . TEMPERATO . DI NATURA . DARIA . DOLCE . SANGVIGNO .
SPERANTE, &C.

IV. * Sole — ^the Sun. He is represented, splendidly armed, with
a crown upon his head, and seated in his chariot, drawn by four
hojses ; upon the chariot-wheel is the zodiacal sign of the Lion,
inscribed beneath, leo. In the back-ground, we see a castle upon
9 hill, and some .figures shooting at a mark with cross-bows : near

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDIISI. 365

them are two men, praying to a crucifix ; others are diverting
themselves with mock fights ; and a laughable figure of a dwarf is
standing by them, with a sword under his arm : others, again, are
throwing stones and wrestling ; whilst, in the fi-ont^ an emperor is
seated, and three tumblers are depicted before him, exhibiting their
feats of activity. The inscription begins in this manner : —

SOLE • E . PIANETA • MASCVLINO . POSTO . NEL aVARTO . CIELO . CALDO
. E . SECHO . INFOCATO . CHOLERICO . DI COLORE . DORO, &C.

V. * Marte — ^Mars. He is seated in his chariot, drawn by two
horses, and represented completely armed, with wings upon his head,
and a sword in his right-hand : upon the wheels of the chariot, are
the Ram and the Scorpion, two signs of the zodiac, and under them
is written — ^ariete and scarpione. At a small distance is a castle,
with figures fighting before it, and a man is represented ringing
the alarm-bell : in the fore-ground, a foraging party of soldiers are
seen falling upon a company of herdsmen, and seizing their cattle :
the inscription begins in the following manner : —

marte . ESENGNO . MASCVLINI . POSTO . NEL ttVARTO* . CEILO . MOLTO
• CALDO . FOCOSO . ET HA QVESTE . PROPRIETE . DAMARE • MILIZIA .
BATTAGLE • ET UCCISIONI . MAUGNO . DISCORDINATO, &C.

VI. ' Satvrno — Saturn. He is seated in his chariot, drawn by two
dragons : in his right-hand he holds a scythe ; and upon the wheels
of the chariot are two signs, the Goat and the Water-bearer, m^
scribed CAPRICORNO and aqvario. The distant country is bounded
with mountains, and with castles; and a figure is represented
hanging upon a gallows, holding a cross in his hands : near to the
spectator, is seen a man, ploughing with two oxen, in a large space
overflowed with water ; and other men are thrashing com in the

* I raspect this word should be quinto, however, to Mr. Stnitt's accuracy, m givii^
as in another print of the same subject, which these inscriptions,
will presentlj be described. I have trusted,

M6 BAGCIO BALDINL [chap. ti.

open field. Towards the left, appean an hermitage, surmounted
with a cross ; and the hermit is seated at the door, near which is
a man cutting woodt and two other labourers with their tools : in
the fore-ground, to the right, is a prison, and before it, a man,
seated, with his legs and arms in the stocks, and two grotesque
figures are standing in the firont : towards the left, are men killing
hogs, one of which is hanged upon a tree. The inscription at
bottom begins as follows :

SATVBNO . E PIANETA . MASCVUNO . POSTO . NEL SETIMO . CIELO .
FRIDDO . E SECHO . MA • ACCIDEriALMEMTE . HVMIDO . DI NATVKA .
DI TBBRA, &C.

VIL ^ Mercvbio— Mercury. He is represented in his chariot;
holding his caduceus, and drawn by two Inrds, like hawks : on the
wheels of his chariot, axe two zodiacal signs, the Virgin and the Twius^
inscribed, virgo and gemini. We are here presented with the inside
of a city: in the back-ground, is a view of a street; and, in the firont,
towards the right, a large building, which the workmen are deco-
rating with ornaments : below, appears the potter, with a variety of
small vessels; and, in the firont, the sculptor, carving a head in
stone : above him are two philosophers, holding a celestial sphere^
and, near them, a table, covered with viands : in the building,
towards the kft, we see a musician, playing upon an organ. It is
singular enough, dmt the bellows, by means of which the instru*
ment is supplied with wind, resembles the common bellows which
we have in our houses at this day : in a compartment below, are
two figures at a table, writing ; and a third is regulating a clock.
The perspective, in which sdence the artist had here an importunity
of shewing his abilities, is most dreadfully defective. Hie inscrip-
tion at the bottom begins in this manner : —

llERCVBIO . E PIANETA . MASCVUNO . POSTO NEL SECONDO . CIELO .
ET SECHO . MA PEBCHE « LA SVA . SICCITA • E MOLTO . PASSIVA LVI . E
FBEDO, &C.

CHAP. VI.]

BACGIO BALDINL

aer

VIII. ' LvNA — ^thc Moon. She is seated in her chariot^ drawn by
two females, holding a bow in her left-hand, and a dart in her right :
upon the wheel of the chariot is the zodiacal sign of the Crab, with
the Latin name, cancer, written underneath it. The distance repre-
sents a mountainous country, with a castle and a town, very rudely
executed. Nearer to the eye, is a fowler, setting his nets ; figures^
fishing, in a boat ; and a man shooting at a flock of birds with a bow
' and arrow : near him, some people are seated at a table, playing at
dice : in the fore-ground, towards the lefl, is a water-mill, part of
the wheel of which appears ; and a bridge over the river, upon which
we see a man on horseback, and an ass &llen down under his
load : beneath the bridge are naked figures, in the water, fishing
with a net. The inscription at the bottom of the plate begins as
follows : —

LA LVNA . E PL^NETA . FEMININO . POSTO . NEL PRIMO . CIELO . FREDA
. E . VMIDA . FLEMATECHA . MEZANA TRA EL MONDO . SVPERIORE ET LO
. INFERIORE . AMA • LA GEOMETRIA, &C.'

The above series of engravings, admitting Mr. Strutt's argument
as to their date to be conclusive, as appears to have been univer-
sally allowed, is decisive evidence of the early establishment of
chalcography at Florence, where, without doubt, they were ex-
ecuted.

It is probable, that in Italy, as we know to have been the case in
Germany,* it had been the custom, long previous to the invention
of typography, to manufacture almanacks by means of wood en-
graving; and that such things were sold by those who dealt in

* A large folio work has been for some
time publishing in Germany, in parts, con-
taining the impressions of a great number of
ancient engraved blocks still in existence.
Of the two first parts of this work, I have
seen a copy in the possession of my friend
Mr. Douce. Amongst the contents of one

of them, is a very curious almanack, embel-
lished, like the almanack in the British Mu-
seum above describedi by twelve circles, re^
presenting the occupations of the twelve
months of the year. There appears to be
good grounds for supposing that it was exe-
cuted between the years 14S0and 1440.

368'

BACCIO BALDINI.

[chap. VI.

playing-cards, the images of saints, and, perhaps, in various articles
of stationery. Upon the discovery of chalcography, the Florentines,
who had not yet received among them the invention of typography,
appear to have applied their new art to similar purposes of utiUty or
amusement ; and it is certain that the artist, by whom the series above
described was engraved, executed more works of the same kind
than one.

Two prints of the planets, belonging to another set of larger dimen-
sions, and, apparently, somewhat still more ancient, are in the valuable
collections of Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Douce. These pieces measure
ten inches and seven-eighths in height, (independent of the inscrip^
tions underneath them, which occupy about one inch and seven-
eighths more,) by eight inches and seven-sixteenths in breadth;
and are both of them early impressions ; taken before the plates had
suffered, as is the case with those in the British Museum, by
retouching. The general subjects* represented in these two prints,
are much the same as in the corresponding pieces of the set above
described, but the arrangement of the groups is in some degree
varied.

Mr. Lloyd's print represents the Planet Mabs —

The God is seated in his chariot on the clouds, and is drawn by

two horses. He is completely armed, with wings to his helmet,

and grasps a sword in his right hand. His name, Marte, appears

on a label over the chariot, and the signs of the zodiac, iscar-

* The subjects introduced in the many
sets of the Planets which appear to have
been engraved in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries, in Italy and Germany, (and^ per-
haps, I might add France) were, if I may
be allowed the expresrion, conventional : so
much so, that a set of wood-prints of the
seven Planets, in my possession, probably
executed in Nurembeig, about 1520, might

be described in nearly the same words aa
were used by Strutt in describing the above.
The designer, it is true, often varied the
arrangement of his compositions; but the
general occupations of the chief groups re-
presented in these sets of the Planets, appear
to have been for the most part strictly ad-
hered to.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. 369

PIONI and ARIETE^ are inscribed on other labels, underneath the
wheels.

In the back-ground, on the right*hand, is a fortified castle, sur-
rounded by a moat, in which a man is seen ringing the alarm-belL
Without the castle is a soldier standing, with a spear in his right
hand, and his left resting on his shield. More in the centre are
four figures fighting, and behind them is a large bonfire. Upon an
eminence, on the left, a drummer is stationed beating his drum.

The fore-ground is occupied by a numerous party of soldiers,
who are assailing a party of peasantry, and endeavouring to carry
off their women and cattle. Towards the centre of this group, a
soldier is seen embracing a female with both his arms, and a coun-
tryman, who, in the struggle, has fallen to the ground, is en-
deavouring to free her from his grasp; whilst a second soldier,
behind the woman, appears aiming a blow with an axe at a large
dog which is flying at him. Behind this soldier and the dog, a
third soldier is endeavouring forcibly to bear away another female.
Further to the right, is a peasant with his spade uplifted ; and near-
him is a dog, and two children running away terrified. A little to
the left, a peasant is extended dead on the ground, and another
appears to have just received a wound in the neck firom the lance
of a soldier, whose helmet is decorated with two wings. Behind
these figures, on the left:, a troop of cavalry are represented, driving
before them the sheep and oxen which they have seized. A second
party of cavalry, completely armed, with their Visors closed, are
arriving on the right. The inscription commences :

MARTE . E . SEGNO . MASCULINO . POSTO NEL OUINTO CIELO MOLTO
CALDO FOCOSO . £ A QUESTE P | * ROPRIETA DAMARE MILITIA BATTA6LIE
BT UCCISIONI . MALIGNO DISORDINATO, &C.

This piece possesses a considerable share of spirit and expression.

* This pei^ndicnlar mark is here intro- artbt commences the next line of the inscrip-
duced to shew the termination of the line tion with the second letter of the word pro*
in the original. It is remarkable that the prieia.

870 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. ti.

l!lie impression is taken off with a light grey colour, a{qproaching
to green, but apparently by means of a press.

The prii^ in the possession of Mr. Douce represents the Moon.

Luna — ^the Moon. She is seated in har chariot, in the clouds,
and drawn by two females, elegantly dressed. She has a bow in
her lefl-hand« and an arrow in her right; and upon the wheel of
her chariot, which is directed towards the left, is the zodiacal
sign of the Crah~but without the name cancer found in the cor*
responding print of the series in the British Museum. Her title,
LUNA, is engraved on a label at the top of the print The extreme
distance rises so high, in the composition, as almost to touch
the chariot : it represents, in the middle, a large stream of wateiv
which is joined by a smaller stream, and appears to take its course
towards the fore-ground, where part of it passes under a bridge
of two arches, and gives motion to a water-mill. In the dis*
taiice, on the rightrhand of the river, several men are seen,
catching birds ; and, a little nearer, on the same side, a gentleman
and lady, seated in an arbour, are amusing themselves with the
same diversion, by means of nets* The extreme distance, on the left,
represents a castle, with a flag flying upon it, situated an a rocky
mount ; and, on the middle-ground, on that ^de, a group of severnl
men are amused at a circular table, by the tricks of a juggler.
Near this group are two young men with bows. Upon the river,
two other men, in a boat, are employed in fishing with a net

From the off- wall of the bridge, in the fore-ground, rises a column,
supporting a sun-dial ; and, upon the bridge, is a man, seated on a
horse, with two sacks of grain, which he is bringing to the mill, on
the right, to be ground : behind him is an ass, fallen down under
the load of two other sacks, and two men^ who are endeavouring
to raise the animal, by pulling at its tail and at the halter. In the
water, under the bridge, two naked figures are bathing, and others
are fishing with a net At the door of the mill a man is seen tying ^
up the mouth of a sack.

CHAP. TiJ BACCIO BALDINI. V7i

With the permission of Mr. Douce> the reader is h^« presented
villi a carejul copy of the chariot of Luna ; and perhaps he will be
of o{Haion wilii the author^ that the two female figures, drawing the
ear, poness much spirit and elegance. I must not omit to obserre
of this interesting print, that, unlike the planet Mars in Mr. Lloyd's
collection, it is printed with dark oil colour, and is, in every respect,
a good impression — a sufficient proof, if its supposed antiquity be
admitted, that the example of the old engravers of Germany was
not necessary, as Bartscli affinns, to instruct the Italians in the
mode of taking the impressions of their engravings.

My opinion, that the series, of which the two engravings last
described fonned a part, are more ancient than those described by
Strutt, is principally ftnrmed upon the greater radenew of the ortho-
graphy, in the inscriptions underneath them ; and the drcumstance
of the numerous repetitions which occur in them of the letter S,
appearing always (or with only one exception) in a reversed direc-
tion ; whereas, in the inscriptions on the ahnanack and the accom*
3 B 2

97% BACCIO BALDINL [chap. vi.

panying planets, des(^ribed by Strutt; jthat letter is generally repre-
ient^ in i\» proper directioni An engraver, whose chief occupation:
in the early part of his life, had been to engrave figures and inscrip-
tions for the decoration of plate# would, for a long time, be liable
to similar errors ; and> indeed, they occur, though less frequently^
in the inscriptions on one of the plates, by the same artist, in the
Monte Santo di Dio,

The orthography of the inscriptioni under Mr. Donee's print, is
carefully attended to in the following transcript : —

LA LUNA EPIANETA FEMININO . POSTO NEPRIMO CIELO FREDA . HE
VMIDA ET FLEMATICHA . M ♦ | EZANA TRALMONDO SUPERIORE ET LO IN-
FERIORE AMA LA GEOMETRIA ET CIO CHE A ESSA | SA PARTIENE DIFACCLA
TONDA DISTURA (di Statura) MEZANA METALLI AL ARGIENTEO DELLE
CHONP I MPLESSIONI LA FREA DETENPI ELYERNO DEGUELEMENTI LAQUA
EL DI SUO E IL VENERDI CH | ON LA HORA PRIMA . 8 . 15 E 22 E LA SUA
NOTTE E QUELLA DEL VENERDI AMICO SUO E GIOVE IN j IMICO MARTE .
A UNA SOLA ABITAZIONE . EL CHANCHRO PRESSO A SOLE EMETRCHURIO

(mercurio) . LA esal | tazione sua . E IL tauro la morte . overo .

VMILIAZIONE • E SCORPIO . VA . IN . 1 2 . SENGNI • IN • 28 . DI . COMICIANDO
I DAL CHANCRO . IN 2 . DI . E i . VA . UN SENGNIO • 13 GRADI , PERDI •
32 . MINUTI 56 . SECONDI . PEDRORA . E IN 28 DI . A DISCOR | SI . E
.... 12 SENGNI CHONPUTAMENTE . E PIU 8 GRADI . E 26 MINUTI . E 20 •
SECHONDI P (per) aUESTO SIDIMOSRA, &C.

The remaining two lines of the inscription ai*e ^o miich rubbed,
and otherwise mutilated, as to be illegible. >

. The annexed fac-simile of part of the first six lines will convey
«ome idea of the rudeness of the originals

'* An in a recent page, the perpendicular the terminations of the lines in the original
tearks here introduced are intended to denote inscription.

CHAP. VI,] BACCIO BALDINI. 373

LALVNA EPIANETA FE/MNINO'POSTO NEPRinO CI6U0 FP£DA*|-
EfANA T^AL/^ON0O ^VPERI0R6 ET LOINFEMORE Kt^KlKGtO
^A PARTI EN E OlFACClA TON PA 01^^&^^ /AE^NA AVETALLl
MPLEaElONI lAFREA OrPENPI ElVE^NO OEGUEUE/vir Tl lh*i\
ONLAHORAPRl/AA-8 i<tZZ ELaZVA NOTTE EWELLA DELVE
I/MCO AVAKTE AVNA.80LA AblTAaoilEELCHANCHCRO PR£?80A

The engraving now about to be described, if admitted to be the
work of Baldini, (and it certainly bears every appearance of having
been executed by the same hand that engraved the planets above
described) furnishes a justification of the opinion already given ;
that Vasari's assertion, that all Baldini's plates were engraved
from the designs of Botticelli, is not to be taken in a strictly literal
sense. '

This curious print is no other than a copy of the picture repre-
senting Hell, executed in fresco, in the fourteenth century, by
Bernardo Orcagna, in the Campo Santo of Pisa; and still in
existence, although injured by retouching. The painter is said to
have taken for his model the description of Dante.

A large hideous figure of Lucifer, having three faces, with the
three mouths of which he is devouring human creatures, forms the
principal object, in the centre of the composition. He has another
face, with a mouth, at the bottom of the abdomen, out of which a
minor devil is pulling the undigested body of Simon Magus, whose
name, in characters reversed, is inscribed on a label. He grasps
two other men in his hands, who, at the same time, are bitten by
two serpents which are twisted round his arms. Seven more un-
happy criminals with caps on their heads, are within the grasp
of the large claws with which he is provided instead of feet. The
names of Nebuchadnesar, Julian the Apostate, and Attila — and
another name which I cannot satisfactorily decipher — ^are inscribed
in small characters on four of the caps. The remainder of the com-
position is intersected by three horizontal divisions, so as to form
four separate plains or friezes. In the bottom division, on the lefl.

S74 BACCIO BALDINL [chaf. ti.

one man is tonnented by having melted lead poured down
throat ; a second has his tongue pulled out ; the teeth of a third are
knocked down his throat ; and a fourth has his head sawn in two :
on the rights several men axe roasted alive, one of them being trans-
fixed by a spit, whilst others are tormented by serpents and red hot
pincers. Serpents constitute the chief mode of torment in the second
division, on the left of Lucifer ; but, on the right, a party of people^
who appear to have a keen appetite, are constrained to starve, whilst
standing roimd a table covered vnth good fare. In the third divi-
sion, on the left, men are, again, tonnented by serpents ; and, on
the right, a multitude of the wicked are immersed in a large re-
servoir of boiling sulphur, and tormented by three devils with
pitchforks. The upper division, which alone is not, in any par^
covered by the gigantic figure of Lucifer, represents men holding
their severed heads in their hands ; others hanging by the head or
the heels ; and others flayed alive, or cut in pieces. The right hand
of this compartment is terminated by an enormous open mouth,
into which a man is dragged by a little devil in the form of a cat,
whilst a second is carried in upon another deviFs shoulders. At the
two upper comers of this piece, are two small holes,* such as Lanzi
speaks of. In the left upper corner is this inscription, in characters
strictly resembling those on the planets above mentioned : aUESTO

• ELINFERNO . DEL . CHAPOSANTO . DI PISA.

The original plate, which has, doubtless, been often retouched,
is still in existence at Pisa ; and impressions from it are inserted
in the first Volume of the Pisa Illustrata of MorranOf 1787. It
measures, within the marginal line, ten inches and seven^ighths in
width, by eight inches and a half in height

The engravings of the Planets, and the representation of Hell,
above described, bear, I think, too striking a resemblance to the
three prints in the Manic Santo di Dio, of which we are about tQ
speak, to leave a doubt of their being the work of the same artist
In these last, howeveri Baldini was, I am of opinion, assisted

* See pp. 835, S96.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. 376

by the drawings of his friend Sandro Botticelli ; at least it is cer-
tain that the first and the second print, partake considerably of that
artist's style of design.

Engraoings in the MoNTE Sancto di Dio, published at Florence,
by Nicola dt Lorenzo della MagnOt in 1477.

I. In the first piece which occurs on the reverse of the last page
of the Index, oppoate the first Chapter -of the work, a rocky
mountain rises with a rapid ascent, and in a pyramidal form, to
more than two thirds tiie height of the print Upon the sunmiit
of this mountain stands the figure of Christ, enveloped in glory, and
surrounded by eight cherubims, four on each side; the clouds oa
either hand, being also interspersed with the beads of cherulK^
ranged symmetrically at regular distances. The annexed engraving
will give a sufficiently good idea of the figure of Christ, with the
celestial att^idants by which he is immediately environed.

370 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. vr.

From the middle of the print, at bottom, a ladder rises to the
top of the Mount, which a good friar is represented as beginning to
ascend. On the ground, at bottom, is written humilta, and upon
the steps of the ladder are inscribed prudentia . temperantia .

FOBTEZZA . JUSTITIA . TIMORE . PIETA . SCIENTIA . FORTEZZA, (for the

second time) consiglio . intellecto . sapientia. On the shafts of
the ladder are these words oratione . Sacramento. Half way up
the mount, on the right of the ladder, is a figure of Christ on the
Cross, near which are written the words fede & carita. The firiar
on the ladder addresses his prayers to this crucifix in the following
words, inscribed on a label, which proceeds out of his mouth : tirami
DOPPO TE. At the bottom of the mount, on the right, are the
words COGNOSCIMENTO DILATATO ; and half way down it, on
the left, is the word speranza: the word perseveranza appears
through the spokes of the ladder. On the left of the print is the
figure of a young man, richly dressed in the fashion of the time,
standing ; his eyes elevated towards heaven, and his left hand raised
over his head, as if to prevent his being overpowered by the bril-
liancy of the glory above. The following ejaculatory inscription is
on a scroll near him : levavi oculos meos i montes unde venut
AUSiLiUM MiCHi AUSiLiUM MEUM A DOMINO. The left leg of this
young man is bound by a ribbon or bandage, inscribed cecita,
' which is held by a demon at bottom, who has also a long iron hook,
with which he assails his desired victim.

This plate, within the black line which bounds the subject,
measures nine inches and seven-eighths in height, by seven inches
in width. The figure of the young man, which possesses a consi-
derable share of easy gracefulness, is copied in the annexed plate.
It will also be found, accompanied by the firiar about to ascend the
ladder, in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. iv. p. 30.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINr.

II. The second print is inserted on the reverse of signature
n. viij. opposite the first chapter of the second book of the work,
which treats of the glory of Paradise.

The centre of this piece is occupied by a majestic figure of Christ,
standing in a glory of flames, of an oval shape, but pointed at top and
at bottom : this glory is supported by six angels and ten cherubim,
3 C

378 ' BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. ti.

who are placed at regular distances around. Our Saviour is repre-
sented with his left-hand on his bosom^ and his right-hand elevated,
as if in the act of giving the benediction. The whole measures ten
inches and a quarter in height by seven inches in width. Mr.
Dibdin has had a correct copy of the Christ and two of the angels
engraved for the fourth volume of his Bibliotheca Spenceriana.*

III. The third and last print with which this curious volume is
enriched, is introduced at the bottom of the page, sig. p. vij. at the
end of the second book, and is a representation of Hell — ^prepar
ratory to the third and last division of the work, which treats of the
punishments of the danmed.

This print is of considerably smaller dimensions than the other
two, and of a different form. It measures about six inches and
a half in width, by four inches and three quarters in height The
centre represents a colossal figure of Lucifer, standing up to his
middle in a large basin of pitch, or some other infernal fluid, cut
in the rock. He is seen in front, and has two horns and two
large ears : his shoulders are furnished with a pair of bat's wings,
which rise to the top of the print, and his body and arms are
covered with hair. He has three mouths, with which he is
devouring the wicked ; two of whom he also grasps in his hands.
On either side of Lucifer are three caverns, in which the reprobate
are tormented in various manners. In the upper cavern, on the right,
a devil is tearing out the entrails of one man ; a second man, whose
body is surrounded by a serpent, appears hanging, with his head
downwards ; and a third is holding his head, which has been cut
off, in his hands. In the cavern immediately underneath, four
culprits, amongst whom is a bishop, are placed around a table
covered with viands, of which they are not allowed to partake ; and
in the bottom cavern, three men are immersed up to the neck in a

* Sir Mark M. Sjkes also possesses a and from whichy with his permission, ihe
copy of this very rare book, which formerly fiic-similes, given in thb work, have been
belonged to the Ricardi hmjiy of Florence, engraved*

CHAP. Ti.] BACCIO BALDINI. 379

cauldron of bmling fluid. lathe upper cavern, on the left, one of
the wicked is tormented by a devil with a flaming torch, and
a second is cut with an axe. In the cavern underneath are three
of the damned, one of them with a regal crown, enveloped in
flames, and beaten by a devil with a rod. In the lowest cavern, on
this side, a devil is seen pouring melted lead, or perhaps gold, down
the throat of one of the reprobate (perhaps a miser), and another
devil is emptying a large bag of money into a vase. In a seventh
cavern, whidi is seen at top, between the wings of Lucifer, is a
monstrous dragon *s head, into the open mouth of which a devil
is thrusting another of the wicked.

I now come to speak of the set of fifty prints, supposed to have
been intended for playing-cards, and called by the Italian writers,
II Giuoco di Tabocchl Bartsch asserts, as has been observed,
that they are by the same artist* that engraved the twenty-four
pieces in the collection of M. Otto ; and I give the more credit
to the assurance, as it appears to be confirmed upon a comparison
of several of them with the copies, given by Heineken, of two of
M. Otto's prints, and repeated in this work.

It is proper, however, to premise, that the fifty pieces called H
Giuoco di Tarocchi, appear to have been anciently engraved more
than once ; and that, in the opinion above stated, I refer, like Bartsch,
to that set of which the five different classes are distinguished by the
initials £. D. C. B. A.f Zani considers this set the original, whilst
Bartsch (vol. xiii. p. 120) gives the preference to a second set, the
five classes of which are marked with the letters S. D. C. B. A.

* Barttchj vol. xin. p. 14ft, speaks with '^ fpterrUf comme qudques aoteun out it6
great confidence on this pobt. Prelatory to ** tent£ de le prisumer, nuns hien par le

description of the twenty-four prints in ** mftme anonyme qui a grav6 les cartes de

M. Otto's possesrion, he says : ^' Nous ** tarot dicrites ci-dessus aux Num£ros

'' n'avons vA de ces pieces qu'une seule^ ''IS. GT.**

'' savoir No. 4. ; mais cette seule a suffi f Zani observes, in speaking of the pieces

** pour nous convwncre qu'elles n'ont sAre- of the Giuoco di Tarocchi, (Materially

ment pas 6t6 gravies par Ma$o Fhd' note 09, p* 1490 '* ^^ ^ ^^ found these

3 c 2

380

BACCIO BALDmi.

[chap. VI.

The lastriiamed writer mentions his having seen also a few pieces
of a third set, which he considers rather less ancient

Lanzi,* and, after him, Zani, ascribed these engravings to the
schools of Venice or Padua ; chiefly, I believe, because the titles
under a few of the figures, appear to be written, as they say, in the
Venetian dialect — ^as Doxe^ Artivan, Famejo, &c. It may appear ill
to become me to express any doubt as to the authority of the Italian
writers above mentioned, in matters respecting their own language;
nor, were there good ground for i^ch doubt, am I prepared for the
question. I must, nevertheless, observe that, upon some occasions, and
especially in Latinizing proper names, the Italians of even the six*
teenth century, appear to have used the x instead of the s. Of this
I have now an example before m^ in a print of a group of Venus
and Cupid ; one of a set of antique statues coarsely engraved at
Rome between the years 1550 and 1555. The marble belonged to
the sculptor and architect Gio. Ant. Dosio, and the inscription
under the figures runs thus : Veneris Signum Ronue in tedibus Joannk
Antony Doxy Architecti. This print is numbered 70, at the right-
hand bottom corner : the name of Dosio, under a statue of Bacchus,

'' letten thus interpreted: A. Tuito; B. Bos-
** tone; C. Coppe; D. Danari; £• Spade.
** What weight is doe to such to exphimtioD/'
saya he, ** will be seen in my woric, at the
^* ttlicle conceniiog playing'Cardi, Past 11.
** Class V. In the mean time, I will observe
^ that, in the copies which we have of this
'' set <rf cards, the ten pieces, forming the
'' first class, are marked with the letter S.
<' instead of the E. The S/' he adds, <' wUl
'^ do perfectly well for Spada :— ^nust we,
'* di^efore, read the E. in the original set,
'' Epie, m French i — But of this in another
'* place/' Zanif upon this occasion, as in
many other parts of his volume, tantalizes his
reader, by hinting that he is in possession of

the means of unravellii^ every difficulty, but
that he reserves their application to his pro-
mised more extensive work. Perhaps, being
destitute of his means of determining; the
question, I might hazard too much, were I to
suggest that, in old Italian orthography, the
words Spada or Spadone might sometimes
have been improperly written E^da or
Etpadone. The redundant letter Lin Iscar-
pioNi, in Mr. IJoyd*s print of the f^net
Mars, described in a former jgfgt of this
chapter, appears to be something of this
kind.

* '^ Storia Pittorica/' torn. i. p. B2. Lanzi,
however, does not appear to speak so posi«
tively as to this point as Zanu

CHAP, VI.]

BACCIO BALDINL

381

No. 83, of, I bdiere, the same set of prints, is properly spelt with
an s. Independently, of the possibility that examples may hereafter
be found of the use of such words as Doxe, Artivan, Famejo, &c. in
the fifteenth century, in other parts of Italy, as well as in the Vene*
ttan state, I must further remark, that these figures, being intended
for playing-cards, (which had hitherto been, at least very chiefly, ma-
nufactured in the Venetian state,) the engraver, although a Floren-
tine, might probably consider it necessary to conform, in some de-
gree, to the customary orthography in the titles underneath them ;
I say in some degree, because in most cases, the orthography of the
inscriptions will do quite as well for the old Florentine dialect as for
any other. I shall, however, leave to others, the task of account*^
ing more satisfactorily for the orthography in a few of the inscrip^
tions, and shall proceed to enumerate the pieces ; fully satisfied, as
I am, that they are by the hand of a Florentine artist. Indeed they
closely resemble the pieces of the Monte Santo di Dio, in the
mechanism of engraving ; and many of the figures are designed so
much in the style of Botticelli, as to give reason to believe that the
engraver was assisted by his drawings, at least in some of them.*

* I will not, however, omit to mentioD
a drcumstance noticed by Zaiii, (Materiale,
p. 71|) lest it should be supposed that I keep
back an argument which some may be of
opinion opposes the supposition that these
prints of // giuoco di Tarocchi were en-
graved by Baldini ; viz. " that on the print
** representing Pobsia, xxvii. 27, the letter
'* C. distinguishing that class, b joined to
** another letter, so as to form,** says Zani,
*' the mark CF or CE, or perhaps a Gothic
f* E only. But of this mark/' continues Zanii
'^ I shall speak in another place :^ — that is, in
his promised Dictionary. Did the print in
question really bear this mark, I should
satisfy myself with suggesting that it might
possibly be the mark of the proprietor and

publidier of diese {dates, and not that of the
engraver : for the circtmutance of two sets
of the planets having been executed by the
same artist, perhaps within a very few years,
seems to justify the supposition, tliat he was
not the publisher of his own plates, but that
he engraved many of them, at least, for
others. Fortunately, however, I have had
the opportunity of making inquiries concern-
ing this matter, the result of which renders
such an hypothesis wholly unnecessary. Mr.
Cumberland, to vrfiose pen the world is in«
debted for the catalogue of Banasoni^s
engravings, possesses a set of the Giuoco
di TaroccUj of the edition now spoken of,
com{dete, except one. In answer to my
queries, he informs me, that no such mark

382 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. vi.

Bartsch and Zani, as has been already observed, mention two sets
of the Giuoco di Tarocchi, the one as the copy of the other, although
they are at variance as to which is the original. The fact appears
to be, that many of the pieces of the one series are rather the repe^
titions of the same subjects, engraved with variations in the designs
of the figures, than what may be properly called copies. The same
personages, accompanied by the like symbolic distinctions, were to
be represented in each ; but, in other respects, the artist does not
appear to have been expected, like the card-makers of the present
day, to be the servile copyist of what was done before. It is, in-
deed, probable, that great part of the figures, in both the sets about
to be described, were copied, with variations and improvements,
from more ancient cards engraved in wood.

Bartsch has given separate catalogues of the two sets of the
Giuoco di Tarocchi above-mentioned, but does not appear to have
seen an entire set of either. It is my lot only to be acquainted witit
a part of the set which Zani and I consider the originals ; these, in
the following catalogue, are placed first, and are followed by the
corresponding pieces of the other set, distinguished by the letter (a).
These last stand first in Mr. Bartsch's catalogue, to which I have had
recourse for the description of some of those pieces which I have not
seen. It remaips to be observed that, in both sets, each piece has
its title in Roman capitals, underneath, followed by its number in
Roman numerals: the number is repeated, in Arabic figures, on
the right hand comer, and, on the lefl, is the letter distinguishing
the class to which it belongs. The pieces of the two sets difier a
little in size : those which we consider the originals, measure seven
inches in height, including the margin with the inscription, by

b to be found on the Pobsta, xxvii. 27^ E instead of a C, (which latter is the proper

which is marked with the proper disdnguish- letter distinguishing the chss^) and afterwards

iag letter of the class only, C : but that in to have corrected his error by engraving a C

theprintrepresenting6EOMETRiA,xxiiii«24. over it^ without erasing the former letter; so

the engraver appears originally to have en- that this piece appears marked thus : P
graved a wrong distinguishing letter ; viz* an

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINL 383

four inches in width ; the others, which Bartsch considers the most
ancient, are somewhat smaller, measuring only six inches and three
quarters, by three inches and three quarters.

II Giuoco di Tarocchi.

Class I. The ten pieces of this class represent different states and
conditions of men : in the set which we consider the most ancient,
they are marked £ : the corresponding pieces of the other set (a)
are marked S.

£. MiSERO. I. 1 (a). S. A poor man, almost naked*

resting on his' stick. He is turned towards the right.

£. Faheio. IL 2. A servant, carrying a dish with a cover, as
if to an entertainment He is dressed in a short habit, which reaches
to the middle of the thigh only, and has a large napkin hung over
his arms and his left shoulder. His head is uncovered, and his steps
are directed towards the left.

(a). S. According to Bartsch's description, the corresponding
piece of this set is in a reverse direction : the servant is walking
towards the right

£• Artixan. ni. 3. A goldsmith, in his shop, seated at his
work, on the right of the print. On the table before him, are a
hammer, compasses, and other tools. Opposite to him is a forge,
with a pair of bellows ; and, behind him, is a boy looking over his
shoulder.

(a). S. The goldsmith, in this print, is seated on the left ; and,
according to Bartsch, the other objects in the piece are disposed
differently.

£. Merchadante. ini. 4. The merchant is dressed in a
loose gown, with large sleeves, and a girdle ; and wears a cap mad«

384 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. vi.

of clothe the folds of which hang down on one side to his girdle,
and over his right shoulder. He is reading a letter, which he holds
with hoth hands, his figure being turned towards the left

(a). S. This piece, according to Bartsch, is numbered thus : —
IV. 4. The figure appears to be in a reverse direction, being turned
towards the right.

Trifling as the observation may appear, I will here remark, that
the appearance of the Roman numerals on this piece (IV.)# and on
No. IX. of this series^ is amongst the arguments which I consider in
favour of the priority of the other set, where the same pieces are
numbered in the more ancient manner — IIII. Villi.

£. ZiNTiLOMO. V. 5. The gentleman is dressed in a jacket,
folded in stiff perpendicular plaits, with a double border, reaching
half way down the thigh. He is walking towards the right, having a
falcon in his lefl-hand, and the thumb of his right-hand thrust
into his belt. Behind him is a lad with a brace of small hounds.

(a). S. In this piece, according to Bartsch, the gentleman has a
stick in his right-hand. As in the other, he holds a falcon with his
lefl-hand, and is walking towards the right

E. Chavalier. VI. 6 (a). S. The cavaUer has a

dagger, which he grasps with both hands. He is attended by a
page, who bears his sword, and is introduced in the back-ground on
the right.

E. DoxE. VIL 7. The Doge of Venice, standing, dressed in
his usual habit. He is turned towards the lefl.
(a). 8. The Doge of Venice, walking towards the right

E. Re. VIII. 8. A king, seated on his throne, holding a sceptre
in his right-hand, with his other hand resting upon his haunch.
He wears a crown, and is seen quite in firont ; his knees are
asunder^ and his feet are drawn back. The design of this figure is

I/VU'LKAH.IKVIIM ■ yy

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. 386

entirely difierent firom that in the corresponding piece of the other
series.

(a). S. A king, seated on his throne, with a sceptre in his right-
hand. He is seen in a three-quarter point of view, and is a httle
turned towards the left. His left foot is somewhat extended forwards.

E. Imperator. Vlin. 9* An emperor, seated on his throne,
holding a glohe in his right-hand, and having the thumb of his left-
hand thrust into his belt. At his feet is an eagle.

The reader will find this piece correctly copied in the annexed
plate.*

(a). S. NumbCTcd thus : — IX. 9. An emperor, seated upon
his throne, holding a globe in his left-hand, and, in his right, a
sceptre. At his feet is an eagle.

E. Papa. X. 10. The Roman Pontiff seated, holding the keys
in his right-hand, and resting his left on a large book. He is seen
in front. The print will be found copied in Mr. Singer's work upon
playing-cards, fi^om the original in my own collection.

(a). S. This piece appears, according to Bartsch, to differ from the
corresponding piece of the other series : the ears are exposed, which,
in the other, are covered with the hair.

Class 2. Marked in both the sets with the letter D. The figures
of this class represent Apollo and the nine Muses.

D. Caliope. XI. 11. She is seen in front, and appears walking

* It is proper, however, in this place, to vom, and perhaps, also, retouched ; and

pbserve, that the original impression itself, the same observation, I am sorry to sa^, will

is far from giving a just idea of the skill of apply to the original impression of another

the ancient artist by whom this series of piece of the series, No. 39f of which the

engraviq;s was executed, having been evi- reader will abo be presented with a copy,

dently taken off after the plate was much Both are in my own collection*

386 BACGIO BALDINI. [chap. vi.

forwards — ^her right leg uncovered. She blows a long trumpet, the
end of it downwards, and has a globe at her feet In the back-
ground, on the right, is a fountain, the stream of which issues from
a rock, and falls into a basin of ornamental sculpture.

(a). In this piece, the fountain in the back-ground appears, from
Bartsch's description, to be on the left-hand. He makes no mention
of the globe at the Muse's feet.

D. Urania. XII. 12. An easy, graceful figure. She has a pair
of compasses in her right-hand, and, in her left, which is elevated,
a globe. Her right leg is uncovered ; her body is a little turned
towards the right, and her head towards the left:.

(a). In this piece, Urania holds the compasses with her left-hand,
and the globe with her right.

D. Tebpsicgre. XIII. 13. She is seen in front, and holds,
with her left-hand, a small guitar, which she plays on with her
right. She has very long hair, part of which is seen on the left. The
back-ground represents a large river, and at her feet, behind her, is a
globe.

(a). The name in this piece, according to Bartsch, is spelt Teni^
core, and the figure is quite different. She is playing on the guitar,
her body being turned a little towards the right, and her head
towards the left. On the right, at her feet, is a globe.

D. Erato. XIIII. 14. She is playing on the tambarine, and
walking towards the right.

(a). There appears, according to Bartsch, to be a small difference
between this piece and the corresponding print of the other series.
In the piece above described, he informs us that the tambarine,
which the muse plays upon, touches the border of the engraving on
the right ; whereas, in this, there is an interval of about a quarter
of an inch between the tambarine and the border.

CBAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. 387

D. PouMNlA. XV. 15 (a). She is playing on a

sort of lyre. Her head is turned towards the right of the print.

D. Taua. XVI. 16 (a). She is playing upon a

small violin^ and kneeling with her left knee on the ground.

D. Melpomene. XVII. 17. The lower part of her figure is seen
in front, but her face and the upper part of her body are turned
towards the left. She blows a horn, and at her feet, on the left, is
a globe.

(a). Melpomene blowing a horn, her figure being directed
towards the right,

D. Euterpe. XVIII. 18. The Muse is playing upon a double
pipe ; her back resting against a tree. Her figure is turned towards
the left of the print, and at her feet is a globe.

(a). According to Bartsch this piece is in a reverse direction. Her
figure is turned towards the right.

D. Cud. XVIIII. 19. She is standing on a swan, which is
swimming in the water. Her body is turned a little towards the right
of the print, but she looks towards the left, and has her right hand
elevated in an action expressive of admiration. With her left hand
she holds up her drapery, which is much in the taste of ancient
sculpture, and extremdy elegant. Part of her long hair, which
reaches to her legs, is seen behind her figure on either side. The
whole is very graceful.

(a). From Bartsch's description, it appears that the figure in this
piece is reversed. — The Muse holds up her drapery with the right
hand.

D. Apollo. XX. 20. He is seated upon a throne formed of two
swans placed back to back : his feet rest on a celestial globe,
right leg is uncovered, and he has a wand in his right hand.

3 D 2

388 BACCIO BALDINL [chap. vi.

(a). In this piece, according to Bartsch, the left leg of Apollo,
and not the right, is uncovered. Bartsch also mentions a branch of
laurel, which Apollo holds in the left hand.

Class 3. The ten pieces of this Class represent the liberal arts,
and some of the sciences. They are marked, in both sets, with
the letter C.

C. Grammatica. XXI. 31. Grammar is represented under the
semblance of an old woman with a hood ; she is turned towards
the right, and has a file in the right hand, and a vase in the left.

(a). The principal difference between this piece and the abov^
appears to be, according to Bartsch, (tom. xiii. p. 134) that the
vase is held in the right hand and the file in the left. The German
writer, however, appears, in this place, to contradict what he ad-
vanced in p. 125, where he says, expressly, '^ tenant un vase de la
main gauche, et de V autre une firuhJ' The title under this piece
appears to be spelt with one m only ; thus : Gramatica.

C. LoiCA. XXII. 22. She is turned towards the right of the
print, her face in profile. She has a dragon, covered by a veil,
in her left hand, at which she is looking. Her right hand is in an
attitude expressive of admiration.

(a). In this piece, according to Bartsch, the figure of Loica holds
the dragon in the right hand instead of the left.

C. Rhetomca. XXIII. 23. Rhetoric is represented by a female
figure of dignified and commanding deportment, with a helmet, sur-
mounted by a regal crown, on her head, and a naked sword in her
right hand. She is seen in front, and on each side of her is a small
infant, or genius, with wings, blowing a trumpet. That on the
right of the print has the trumpet elevated. This piece will be
found, copied from the original in my collection, in Mr. Singer*s
work upon playing-cards.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINI. «89

(a). In this piece, according to Bartsch, the genius on the left
has its trumpet elevated, instead of that on the right. The design is .
probably, also different in some other respects.

£. Geometria. XXIIII. 24 (a). A fe-
male figure hovering in the clouds, and employed in tracing
geometrical figures. She is turned towards the right. Underneath
is a landscape.

C. Aritmetricha. XXV. 25. A graceful female, seen in froiit ;
her head a little inclined towards the left A girdle encircles her
waist; and her head, from which issue rays of light, is covered
with a veil that descends on her breast, and flows back over her
shoulders. She looks downwards, and is counting money from one
hand into the other.

(a). The figure, according to Bartsch, is much the same; but
the hands are employed differently. The left hand holds a tablet,
on which are the figures from 1 to 10— as well as the number
14085.

C. MusiCHA. XXVI. 26. A female in a loose robe, her arms
naked from the shoulders, sitting on a semicircular chair or bench
without a back. She is playing on a pipe or flute, which she stops
with some of the fingers of both hands. On the left of the print is
a swan, standing ; and, on the ground, scattered in various direc-
tions, are a small portable organ or regals, a lute, a harp, a pipe,
and a kind of violin with two strings, and a bow belonging to it ;
the latter instrument leaning against the bottom of the chair on the
right-hand. The head of the female is uncovered, and her hair
curled up in front. She looks down, towards the left, on the swan ;
but the lower half of her body is turned towards the right.

(a). She is seated, says Bartsch, playing on a flute, and is turned
towards the right. She has a swan near her, and is surrounded
by musical instruments scattered on the ground.

890 BACCIO BALDINL [chap. vi.

C. POESIA. XXVIL 27. She is seated near a fountain^ and is
playing on a pipe or flute which she holds in her right hand. In
her left hand is a vase.

(a). The figure, according to Bartsch, is in a reverse direction.
She holds the pipe in the left hand and the vase in the right The
shape of the fountain is different.

C. Philosofia. XXVIII. 28. She holds a lance in her right
hand, and a shield, on which is the Gorgon's head, in her left.

(a). The figure, generally, according to Bartsch, is in a reverse
direction. She holds the lance, however^ in her right hand, and
the shield in her left.

C. AsTROLOGiA. XXVIIII. 29. A graceful female figure, with
wings to her shoulders, beautifully draped. She is turned towards
the right, and her face is seen in profile. She has a crown of
stars, and appears to be contemplating a circle filled with stars,
which is placed opposite to her in the sky. In her left-hand is a
book, and, in her right, a wand, the point of which is directed
downwards.

(a). The figure, according to Bartsch, is in a reverse direction ;
and the wings, which, in the print above described, are extended
upwards, have their points downwards. The wand also is in a dif-
ferent position, being held with its point upwards.

C. Theologia. XXX. 30 (a). Theology is repre-
sented by a female figure, with two faces, like the god Janus. One
of these faces is that of a woman, and looks towards the right ; the
other face is that of a man, and is turned in the opposite direction.
The upper part only of the figure is seen ; the lower extremities
being hid by a large globe covered with stars.

CHAP. VlJ

BACCIO BALDINL

d91

Class A. The ten pieces of this class represent astronomy, chro-
nology, cosmogony, and the seven cardinal virtues.* They are
marked with the letter B.

B. Iliaco. XXXL 3L Astronomyf is represented by a winged
genius, holding the sun in his right-hand.

(a). The figure is in a reversed direction. The genius holds the
sun in his left-hand.

B. Chronico. XXXII. 32. Chronology is represented by a
winged genius, holding a dragon with its tail in its mouth, the
emblem of eternity, in his right-hand. His left-hand rests upon his
haunch. The figure is turned towards the left.

(a). The figure, according to Bartsch, is in a reversed direction,
and holds the serpent in the left-hand.

B. CosMico. XXXIII. 33. Cosmology is represented under
the figure of a winged genius, holding, in his right hand, a globe,
half terrestrial and half celestial. His left hand is extended towards
the spectator.

(a). The genius holds the globe with the left hand, and rests the
right upon his haunch.

B. Temperancia. XXXIIII. 34. An elegantly draped female,
pouring liquid firom one vase into another. She is attended by a

* Hie circmnstance of three of the
sciences being united in this class with the
seven cardinal virtues, so as to make together
ten pieces, furnishes, I think, a satisfactory
proof, that these prints must have been in-
tended, according to the assertion of the
Italian writers, to be used as cards ; since,
if they had been published merely as sets of

the Planets, the Firtues, the Sciences, &c.
as Strutt supposed, we should find diem
arranged, at least in the two former instances,
in classes of seven pieces each.

t I am ignorant of the authority upon
which Mr. Bartsch translates the term Iliaco
by the word Jitronomie.

392 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. vr.

■

little aiumal resembling a pig, which is looking at itself in a
mirror placed on the ground, on the left of the print.

(a). According to Bartsch, this piece is in a reverse direction from
the above.

B. Prudencia. XXXV. 35. Prudence is represented under
the figure of a woman with two faces, viz. that of a female, and
that of an old man with a beard. With the female face, which is
turned towards the right, she is looking at herself in a mirror held
by her in her left hand. In her right-hand she has a pair of com-
passes. At her feet, on the rights is a cockatrice or dragon.

(a). Reverse of the above.

B. Forte2:a. XXXVI. 36. Fortitude. She has her head covered
with the skin of a lion, and has a sceptre in her right hand, whilst,
with her left, she is breaking a column. At her feet, on the left of
the print, is a lion.

(a). In this piece, according to Bartsch, the head of Fortitude is
covered by a helmet, and the lion at her feet, is on the right. She
holds the sceptre, however, with the right hand.

B. JusTiciA. XXXVII. 37. She is seen in front, and has a
pair of scales in her left hand, and, in her right, a sword. At her
feet is a crane.

(a). The principal difference between this piece and the above is,
according to Bartsch, in the head of the female, which is seen in a
three-quarter view, and turned towards the right.

B. Charita. XXXVIII. 38. A standing female, in an easy
dress, with a girdle. Over this dress is a long flowing robe, fastened
on the breast, with a gem fibula. The head is uncovered, and the
hair, separated in the middle, hangs over her shoulders. In her
pght hand, the arm of which lifts up part of the loose outer robe.

7Z77777 777TtTTTT?^t

CHAP, vi.j BACCIO BALDINI. 393

she holds an inverted purse, from which several pieces of money
are dropping; whilst, with her left, she pulls aside her drapery,
and exposes her bosom, from whence issues a flame of fire. At the
bottom of the print, on the left hand, is a pelican nourishing her
young. The figure of Charity fronts the spectator; but her
face, which looks downwards on the pelican, is turned towards
the left.

(a). She holds the purse in the right hand, as in the piece above
described, but the pelican beneath is on the right

B. Speranza. XXXVIIII. 39^ A dignified and graceful female,
-standing, with her eyes looking towards heaven, and her hands
raised in an attitude expressive of prayer* The figure is turned
towards the left ; on which side of the print, on the ground, is a
phoenix standing in the midst of the flames. This piece is carefully
copied in the annexed engraving.

(a). Reverse of the above described.

B. Fede. XXXX. 40. A female figure seen in front. Her
eyes are directed towards a chalice with the host upon it, which she
holds elevated in her right hand. In her left hand is a cross, and
at her feet, on the right of the print, is a little dog. '

(a). The figure, says Mr. Bartsch, is reversed, but still the cross
IS held in the left hand, and the chalice in the right.

Class 5. The ten pieces of this class, represent the planets,
&c. They are marked, in both the sets, with the distinguishing
letter A.

A. Luna. XXXXI, 41. Diana, in her car, drawn by two
horses. Their course is directed towards the left*
(a). The car moves in a reverse direction*

3 E

SM BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. ti.

A. Mebcurio* XXXXIL 42. Mercury is represented play*
\ng on a flute^. which he holds in his left hand : in his right
hand is the caduceus. A cock^ and the head of a man, are at
his feet

(a). The figure, says Bartsch, is reversed; but, nevertheless/
Mercury holds the caduceus in his right hand, and the flute in
his left.

A. Venus. XXXXIIL A3. The goddess is bathing herself in a
rivulet, on the banks of which are three nymphs, and a Cupid ; the
former on the right hand, the latter on the left.

(a). The composition in this piece, according to Bartsch, is re-
versed ; the nymphs being placed on the left hand, and the Cupid
on the righti

A. Sol. XXXXIIII. 44. Phaeton falling from the chariot of
the sun, the course of which is directed towards the right,
(a). Reverse of the above described.

A. Marte. XXXXV. 45. Mars seated on his throne, with a
sword in his right hand. At his feet is a dog.

(a). The design of this piece, says Bartsch, is much the same as
the above described ; except that the helmet of Mars, in this piece,
is decorated by wings, which is not the case in the other.

A. Jupiter. XXXXVI. 46. Jupiter, seated in an oval, with
a dart or javelin in his right hand, which he is about to throw at
a little figure sitting beneath. At the top of the piece is thfe
eagle.

(a). The head of the eagle at the top of the print, according to
Bartsch, is turned towards the left ; whereas, in the above described,
it is turned towards the right* The design, in other respects, is, he
says, much the same.

CHAP. viO BACCIO BALDINL 39&

A. Saturno. XXXXVII. 47. Saturn, holding, in his right
band, one of his children, which he is about to devour.
(a). Reverse of the above described.

A.- OcTAVA Spera. XXXXVIII. 48. A winged female, beau-
tifully draped, supporting, with both hands elevated, a large circle
filled with stars. Her figure is turned towards the left of the print,
and her left leg is uncovered.

(a). Reverse of the above. The figure is turned towards the right

A. Primo Mobile. XXXXVIIII. 49. A winged female figure,
with beautifiil drapery, and fiiU of spirit She appears as if
about to spring firom the globe of the earth, which i^ touches
only with her left foot She supports a laj^e globe with both her
hands, and is seen in profile ; her figure being directed towards the
left.

(a). Reverse. The figure is turned towards the right

. A. Prima Causa. XXXXX. 50. The ^obe of the earth sur^
rounded by seven circles representing the seven planets.

(a). There appears, from Mr. Bartsch's description of this print,
to be a considerable variation between it and the above described ;
viz. that, in addition to the circles, the symbols of the four
Evangelists are introduced at the four comers of the piece.

Perhaps the series of twenty-four prints of the Prophets which
follows, would have been more properly placed immediately after
the two prints of the Planets in the collection of Mr. Douce and
Mr. Lloyd, which they strictly resemble, as well in their style of
execution, as in the forms of the characters and the rudeness of the
orthography in the inscriptions underneath them. Hiree of these
pieces are in the collection of the British Museum; besides two
other pieces, representing Joseph and the Madonna, which, with-
out doubt, originally accompanied the series. I shall arrange these

3e2

396 BACCIO BALDINL [chap, vi,

prophets according to Bartsch^ who has given a list of the whole, |

hut I shall be more minute than he has been in the description of
the few that I have seen.

THE PROPHETS.

€€

" These Prophets/' says the above-mentioned writer,* "are repre-
sented sitting in different attitudes ; some of them upon thropes ;
others upon clouds, from which issue flames of fire in a horizontal
direction on either side. The name of each prophet is engraved
in the upper part of the plate ; some of them have also a scroll
with an inscription ; and, in the margin, at the bottom of each,
^^ are eight Italian verses." I shall briefly remark, in addition to
the observations of Bartsch, that, in the pieces at the British
Museum, all the inscriptions^ are in capitals, and that the letter S
appears always reversed.

Each piece measures, including the bottom margin with the
verses, seven inches in height, by four inches and one-eighth in
breadth.

1. NoE PROFETA. The first verse underneath, begins: II verba
ettemo e certo, &c.

2. Jachob. An inscription upon it: Ad predam descendiai^
&c« The first verse underneath, begins : O sole nascente sanza

Jine^ &c.

3. MuiSE PROFETA. Inscription : Non adorabis decs, &c. First
verse : O chiave di Davits &c.

4. Aron PROFETA. First verse : Dise el padre signore, &c.

5. Samuel profeta. First verse : O color santo delta luce, &c.

6. Davit profeta. Inscription: Laldate pueri Dominus, &c«
First verse : A voi presenti dove, &c.

• " Peintre Onnreur,'^ vol. ziii. p. 164*

CHAF; VI.] BACCIO BALDINL 397

7. Salomon,* First verse : Lardente inente del dmno, &c.

8. Helia profeta. First verse : lo vengho certamente, &c.

9* EuxEO PROFETA. . First verse: Per Yhv Jie ogni dubbio:
rimosso, &c.

10. Jeremia profeta, First verse : Per vera a me nfu^ &c.

11. Baruch profeta^ (The b in the name of Baruch a minus-r
eule, the other letters capitals). An impression of this piece, vehich
does not appear to have been seen by Bartsch, is in the British

* Museum. The prophet is seated upon a cloud of an oblong shape,
placed horizontally, from which proceed rays of glory, and is
turned a little towards the right. His feet are supported by another
cloud of the same form. In his right hand he holds a book, which
is closed, and fastened with two clasps ; and in his left is a large
scrolK This scroll rises, and traverses the print behind his head ;
and on it is inscribed his title ; the word Baruch being on one side
of his head, and profeta on the other. The head of the prophet is
by no means devoid of character, and has a handsome beard andT
long hair. He wears a cap, with a broad border turned up all
roundj and a pointed crown, surmounted by a small ball or button.
The two first verses of the inscription beneath, not indeed very in*
telligible, are as follows :

ividiilsengnio chenelloriente
cidimostro logran goconditade.

12» EzECHiEL PROFETA. Inscription: Ea^dUamtRgrmmhumilitet.^

13. Danielo PROFETA* Inscription: Post edamodas VII et LXII
ocddetu XPS. First verse : Vendendo la notte, &c.

14. Joel profeta. This piece is also in the British M useum«.
^e prophet is seated, and has his feet resting on clouds exactly

* Mr. Bartsch obtferres that, in the only may be found to be the case with other im*

impresnon he had aeen of this piece, the pressions of it.

scroll intended for the name was vacant; and f Bartsch has omitted to notice the verses

that he is ignorant whether 'or not the same under this piece.

S9a BACCIO BALDINI* [chap. vi.

like those in the print of Baruch above described, and is a little
turned towards the right. His right hand rests upon a book, which
is closed, and lying on his lap, and with his left he holds a large
scroll, like that of Baruch, on which is his title. He wears a linens
cap, and over it, another cap, which is turned up all round, and
has a pointed crown. He has a beard, and his hair is rather long
than otherwise. His countenance is ftiU of character. The two
first verses underneath are as follow :

FATE EXULTAZIONE ATUTTI VOI
E aUALI DISIDERATE LAGUSTIA.

15. Amos profeta. First verse : O prindpio dicino, &c.
. 16. Abias PROFETA. First verse : Pangiv o popolo ebreo, &c»

17. GiONA PROFETA. First verse : Predichar fernnd lonperioj &c.

18. Nav (Nahum) PROFETA. First verse: O pontic sammo, &c.

19. Abachuch PROFETA. First verse : Prenda cJU vol diletto, &c.

20. Ageo PROFETA. An impresi»on of this piece is also in the
British Museum. The prophet is sitting on, and supported by
clouds, like Baruch and Joel ; but his figure, which is nearly seen
in front, is a little inclined towards the left. On his lap is a book»
in which he is reading : he holds it open with his right hand, and,
with his left hand, part of which only is seen, he appears to be
pointing to that part of the page which employs his immediate
attention. He has a beard and long hair, and wears a turban, sur-
mounted by a high crown or tiara, with a small {Mne-apple at tx)p.
A veil proceeds from underneath the turban, the two ends of which
float in the air on either side his shoulders. The title Ageo
PROFETA is introduced in the upper part of the print, on the left,
but is not on a scroll. The head of this prophet, like the others
has considerable merit. The verses at bottom begin :

ECIEU SON GRANDI ESIL LOR MALTURA
ECREDO PARTORIRA PRESTAMENTE.

CHAP. VI.] BACCIO BALDINL $90

21. Xaccheria profeta. First verse : Chosim sara qtiella, &c.

22. Malacchia profeta. First verse : Echo che vien di ttitti, &c.

23. Jesue profeta. First verse : O rede re o signor, &c.

24. IsAiA PROFETA. First verse : Eccho la vergin, &c.

I have no doubt whatever that the two following pieces which,
as has been said, are in the collection of the British Museum, belong
to the above series ; and that they were placed, very properly, at
the end, as descriptive of the completion of the ancient prophecies
in the birth of Christ. When bound in a volume, and placed op*
posite each other, these two pieces would constitute, as it were, one
composition.

The first piece, which, under the above supposition, was intended
to be placed on the left-hand, represents the Madonna, who is
kneeUng on the ground, and turned towards the right. She has
a glory of an oval form over her head ; and before her, on the
ground, is the divine infant, who has a circular diadem, or glory,
round his head, and is moreover entirely surrounded by rays, or
flames, which appear to descend upon him from a star, placed
immediately over him in the sky. Behind the infant, on the right,
are seen the ox and the ass ; and on the left, behind the virgin, is
part of the hovel rising up to the top of the print There is no
inscription or title at the upper part of this piece ; but there are
eight verses, as in the prints of the prophets, at bottom. The two
first are as follow : —

AVE FIDELE ISCHORTA D£ MORTAU
PELSANTOPARTO DIGESU TUO FIGUO.

The other represents Joseph, and bears, on a scroll at top, this:
title : JusEPPO. Joseph is seated on the ground, and b turned
towards the left. He extends his right-hand, as if he were pointing
out the infant to the shephwds, although none appear, and, with
his left-hand, holds his mantle over his bosom. On the left of the

t
k

4O0t BACCIO BAI.DINI. [chap, vi.

piece is the ass's pack-saddle. The verses underneath, addressed
to the virgin, plainly shew that this print was intended, as I have
supposed, to he united, or at least to be placed opposite to its com-
panion, so as to form one subject. The two first are thus : —

AVE VIRGO FIGLIOLA DISANTANNA
DELNOSTRO VERO IDIO MADRE EFIGLIUOLA.

I will only add, though I do not take upon me to assert it, that
I think it very probable that the above series was engraved after
designs made by Botticelli, at an early period of his life — ^probably
not later than between 1460 and 1470 — and that firom the incor-
rectness of drawing in the hands of most of the figures, the only
naked parts, except the faces, that are seen, there appears to be
every fair ground for placing them amongst the first productions of
Baldini. That they are by the same engraver who engraved the
planets, so often mentioned, is, I think, unquestionable.

According to Bartsch, the inscriptions under these pieces, after
the plates had furnished a certain number of impressions, were cut
off; by which the plates were reduced to five inches and a half in
height. These second impressions are numbered firom 1 to 24, on
the right-hand corner, at top ; and there are also, he tells us, one or
two other small alterations in some of the pieces ; as on No. 3,
where the words Muise prof eta are effaced, and Moise propheta
engraved higher in the plate in their stead. At length, according
to Bartsch, the plates underwent a further change ; and in these
third impressions the pieces are ranged in a different order, and
numbered on the right-hand at bottom.

Besides the above series of the prophets, Mr. Bartsch also notices
a set of twelve pieces, representing the Sibyls; which, as there
appears, from his account of them, to be every reason to believe,
not only that they appertain to the same engraver, but also that
^ey were a sort of sequel to the same work, are here enumerated*

CHAP. vi.J BACCrO BALDINK 401

THE SIBYLS.

These pieces, according to Bartsch, are as nearly as possible, of
the same dimensions as those of the Prophets ; and, in like manner,
each has eight Latin verses underneath. The Sibyls are represented
seated, and their names are engraved in the upper part of the plates;
sometimes on scrolls. Besides the verses underneath, they also bear
other inscriptions. The pieces are numbered from 1 to 12 — on the
left-hand comer, at top.

1. SiBiLLA Peksicha. She is seated on a bank, and turned
towards the left. She has a book, open, in her left-hand, and has
her right elevated. Inscrip. Ecce JUius del, &c. First verse at
bottom : Eccho percJwi la bestia, &c.

2. SiBiLLA LiBiCA. She is seated on a bank, and turned towards
the left, having a book in her right-hand, the leaves of which she
is turning over with her left Inscrip. Ecce veniet, &c. First verse :
II di verra chellettemo, &c.

3. SiBiLLA Delficha. She appears seated on a piece of land
surrounded by the sea, and is turned towards the right. She sup-
ports a scroll with both her hands, on which is her title — sibilla
DELFICHA ; and has also, in her right-hand, a large horn or trumpet.
Inscrip. Nascetur propheta e virgine, &c. First verse : None daeser
lenta, &c.

4. Sibilla Chimicha. She is sitting on a seat surrounded with
flames or rays, and is turned towards the right. She is reading in a
book which she holds with both hands. Inscrip. In pueritia stia,
&c. First verse : Una vergine santa, &c.

5. Sibilla Eritea. She sits on a seat surrounded by rays or
flames, and placed in a circle. With her right-hand, she holds a

3 F

402 BACCIO BALDINI. [chap. yi.

naked sabre, and, with her left, a scroll, on which is inscribed —
Morte morietur et tribus, &c. First verse, underneath : Bisgtiardo
iddioddh, &c.

6. The Sibyl of the Hellespont Mr. Bartsch does not appear to
have had an opportunity of seeing either this piece, or No. 8.

7. SiBlLLA CuMANA. The seat on which she is placed is sur-
rounded by flames or rays, and she is turned towards the right.
She has a book in her left-hand, in which is written — Jam redit et
VirgOp &c. First verse : LvUimo me parlar^ &c.

8. The Sibyl of Samos.

9. SiBiLLA Frigia. She sits on a seat surrounded by flames,
and is turned towards the right. In her left-hand she holds a scroll,
on which is inscribed — Veniet dt super flw$, &c. First verse : Vidi
leccebo idh, &c.

10. SiBiLLA TiBURTiNA. She is seated on a rocky bank, and is
turned towards the right She has a book on her knees, the leaves
of which she appears to be turning over with her right-hand.
Upon a long scroll is an inscription, commencing — Nascetur in
Bettelem, &c. First varse below : II gusto ddio, &c.

11. SiBiLLA EuRGPA. She is seated on a bank, and turned
towards the left ; and is reading in a book, which she holds with
both her hands. Inscr^>. Veniet collet et montes, &c. First verse
below : Verra quel vebrbo, &c.

12. SiBiLLA Agrippa. She is seated on a throne, and holds a
book with her right-hand, at which she is pointing with her left, and
wherein is an inscription, commencing thus ; Hoc verbum irmsibile,
jScc. First verse beneath : Qundo sa questo, &c.

CHAP. VI.] BACC30 BALDINI. «tt

1 shall close this list of the supposed works of Baccio Baldini,
with the following beautiful little print, which is engraved exactly
in the same manner as the set of pieces of the '* Giuoco di Tarocchi,"
before described, and is preserved in the valuable cabinet of
Mr. Uoyd ; by whom it was purchased out of the coUectioQ
formerly appertaining to the Riccardi family* at Florence. It is
evidently a first impression of the plate, and, as far as I am able
to learn, is unique. The subject is the Death of Orpheus.

Orpheus is represented upon the ground, in the centre of the
piece, resting on his right hand and right knee. His lefl hand»
with which he holds a part of his mantle, is raised to his head, as
if for its protection : he is looking up towards the right, and seems
imploring the pity of one of the two nymphs who are beating him
to death with long clubs. The nymph on this side is seen in a
back view ; the other, on the lefl, is seen in a front. Both these
figures are covered by beautiful drapery. The figure of Orjdieus^
except the mantle on his shoulders, is naked. A little to the lefl
of the nymph which is seen in a front view, a child appears run*
ning away terrified; and, immediately behind the child, a tree,
supported by a single perpendicular stem, rises to the top of the
print. Behind the group of Orpheus and the two nymphs, is a
rocky mount, perpendicular on the right, and surmounted by
a walled city with a high tower. The lyre, or rather the guitar of
Orpheus, is lying before him on the ground.

This little print is shaded with cross hatchings in various di-
rections, like the pieces already described. The whole is designed
with much elegance, and finished throughout with the greatest
delicacy. Being, moreover, perfectly well printed, and in excel-

^ The Riccardi coUectien of {urints and It was &r from beiiig, upon the whole, a

drawiugs, together with several pictures, was fine CollectioD ; bat it contained a few very

fmrchased a few years ago by an Ei^lish interesting e^;nivings of the early Florentine

gentleman at Florence ; and, afterwards, sold school ; the best of whidi now grace the

by auction at Stuart's Rooms in Piccadilly, cabinet of the friend mentioned in the text«

3 F 2

4(M SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. vi.

lent preservation, it may justly be termed a most interesting
specimen of the artist's talents. I shall leave it to the research
of future writers, to explain the engraver's meaning in the scroll,
or flourish, which is introduced over the figure of Orpheus, and is

here faithfully copied :

This print measures eight inches and a quarter in width, by five
inches and a half in height.

ALESSANDRO, or SANDRO, FILIPEPI, commonly called

SANDRO BOTTICELLI.

Nat. 1437. Ob. 1515.

As many doubts have been suggested by recent writers relative
to the engravings of Sandro Botticelli— especially to his prints for
the Dante of 1481 — ^and as the account given us by Vasari has
been frequently misinterpreted,* I have judged it the safest method
to introduce the old Florentine artist to my readers in a careful
translation of Vasari's life of him. For, although only a small part
of it treats immediately of Botticelli's works of engraving, the re-
mainder, which contains the descriptions of his paintings, may be
found not a little interesting to the collector of ancient prints ; and
may, by giving him a fuller insight into his style of composition
than he would otherwise possess, occasionally assist him in forming
his decisions concerning the probable authenticity of such pieces as
he may find ascribed to him ; especially if, in addition to this species
of information, he shall have had the opportunity of a previous
acquaintance with any of that artist's genuine designs, or of his
works of painting.

* HetnekeHy for example, ^* Diet, des bat, nevenfaelessy inserts the pieces ascribed,

Artistes,*^ torn. iii. p. 209, makes Baldini 'wheAer to Botticelli or fialdini, in the same

the engraver of the prints in the Dante. — article. Hubert ^^ Manuel," &o. torn. iii.

Bartsch, '' Pdntre Graveur/* torn. xiii. p. SS^ is positive in ascribii^ the prints in

p. l6l. appears doubtftd upon this point, the Dante to BaldinL

CHAP. VI.] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 40&

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In the time of the magnificent Lorenzo de' Medici the elder^
which was, in truth, to persons of genius, a golden age, flourished
^^ Alessandro, called, according to our custom, Sandro, and surnajned
*^ Botticelli, for the reasons which will presently appear. This
^' person was the son of Mariano Filipepi, a Florentine citizen, by
whom he was diligently brought up, and caused to be instructed
in all those things which it is customary to teach young boys
previous to their being put to some trade : nevertheless, although
he learned with great facility every thing to which he applied,
'* he could never be satisfied with any school of reading, writing,
f^ or accounts; insomuch that his father, tired by his volatility,
** and determined to fix his attention to some dne object, placed
him with a goldsmith, a friend of his, called Botticello, who had
then the reputation of a skilful professor of that art.

There was, in those times, a very great degree of fellowship,
and, as it were, a continual intimacy, between the goldsmiths and
the painters ; whence Sandro, who was a young man of an acute
mind, and entirely dedicated to the study of design, became
enamoured of painting, and anxiously desired to apply himself to
*' the practice of it. He therefore freely opened his mind to his
^^ father, who, knowing the ardour of his disposition, conducted
" him to Fra Filippo lippi, of the Carmelites, then a professor of
^^ painting of great reputation, and placed him under his care^ that
'' Sandro, according to his inclination, might learn that art. Having
given himself up, therefore, entirely to the study of painting, he
followed and imitated the style of his master with such assiduity,
that Fra Filippo became much attached to him, and instructed
him with so much care that, in a short time, he attained a degree
^' of excellence which no one could have imagined possible.

When yet a lad, he painted * Nella Mercatantia,' at Florence,
a figure of Fortitude, between the pictures of the Virtues which
Antonio and Pietro del PoUajuolo were then executing. He
painted a picture in the * Capella de' Bardi," in the church
'' of S. Spirito, at Florence, which is executed with great care.

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406 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. vt.

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and extremely well finished ; wherein are certain olive and palm-
trees painted with exquisite delicacy. He painted a picture for
*' the church of the Nuns of the ' Convertite/ as also one for the
monastery of S. Barnabk. In the church of Ogni Santi^ he
painted, in fresco, by the side of the door which leads to the
choir, a figure of S. Agostino, whereon (being ambitious to sur-
^' pass all the painters of that time, but especially Domenico Ghir-
^^ landaio, who, on the other side, had painted a S. Girolamo) he
bestowed much pains ; which work was deserving of great praise,
as he had expressed, in the head of the saint, that profound intelli-
gence and acuteness of intellect, which are proper to persons
abstracted from worldly thoughts, and continually employed in
the investigation of sublime or abstruse subjects. This painting,
'^ as has been stated in the life of Ghirlandajo, was, in this year,
1564, removed safe and entire from its original situation. Whence
having acquired reputation, he was employed by the company of
* Porta S. Maria' to paint a picture of the coronation of the Virgin,
^ with a choir of angels, for the church of S. Marco ; which work
was correctly designed, and skilfully executed. He painted many
things in the house of the Medici, for Lorenzo the elder, and
especially a figure of Minerva, over a device representing gabions
throwing out flames,* which figure was the size of life ; and also
a S. Sebastian. In the church of S. Maria Maggior, at Florence,
is a Pieth by him, with figures of great beauty and expression, by
the side of the chapel of the family Panciatichi. For various
private houses in the city, he painted pictures <rf a circular form ;
and many with female figures naked : two of which are now at
*' Castello, a villa of the Duke Cosimo ; the one representing the birth
" of Venus, with the winds, the loves, and the zephyrs ; the other,
" Venus adorned with flowers by the Graces, denoting the Spring ;

^ I have some doubt of the accuracy of bronconi may, amongst its other significalioiM,

my translation in this place. Vasari says : mean gabions ; without which freedom of

** sii una impresa di bronconi^ che buttavano interpretation I can make no sense of the

fuoco;" and I have conjectured that the word passage.

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CHAP. VI.] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 407

'f both of them composed and executed with taste* In the house of
Gio. Vespucci, in the * Via de Servi/ now that of Pietro Salviati,
he painted several pictures round a room, surrounded with carved
" ornaments of walnut-tree ; in which are many figures of great
'' spirit and excellence. In like manner he painted, in the house of
the Pucci family, Boccaccio's story of Nastagio degli Honesti, in
four pictures of small figures, full of animation and beauty ; and,
in a circle, the adoration of the Magi. He also painted a picture
'* of the Annunciation in a chapel of the ^ Monaci di Castello/ In
^' the church of San Pietro Mf^giore, near the side entrance, he
^* painted for Matteo Palmieri, a picture with a prodigious number
'^ of figures, representing the Assumption of the Madonna, with the
'* diflPerent zones or partitions of the heavens, according as they are
^' described, with the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apostles, the
'' Evangelists, the Martyrs, the Confessors, the Doctors of the
'' Church, the Virgins, and the host of Angels ; the whole according
to the plan given him by Matteo, who was a man of talent and
learning ; which work he executed in a most masterly and
'^ finished manner: and at the foot of it was represented the
portrsut of Matteo, on his knees, as also th^ of his wife. But
notwithstanding that this work is of the greatest beauty, there
were not wanting envious persons and calumniators, who, not
being able to find other fault, asserted that Matteo and Sandro
had introduced into it notable heresies ; concerning which accu-
*^ sation, whether it be true or false, I do not pretend to be a judge.
'^ This I know, that the figures which Sandro inserted in it are
^* worthy of praise, as well as the diligence and skill with which he
expressed the circles of the heavens, and the divisions between
the saints and the angeb; as also the fore-shortenings, and the
varied points of view in which the di&rent objects are seen : the
** whole being conducted with excellent design.

About the same time Sandro was employed to paint a small
picture, with figures about three-quarters of a cubit long, which
was placed in S. Maria Novella, between two of the doors of the

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408 S ANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. \u

'* west end of the church : in it was represented the Adoration of
the Magi> with great propriety of expression ; especially in the
figure of the first old man, who, kissing the foot of our Lord,
and melting with tenderness, shews most evidently that he has
•* attained the end for which he undertook his very long journey.
'* In the person of this king is represented the portrait of old Cosimo
'' de' Medici ; and it is^ of all that now exist of him, the truest and
^' most striking resemblance. The second king represents Giuliano
" de' Medici, the father of Pope Clemente VII. He is wrapt in
contemplation, whilst he devoutly bows before the infant, and
offers his present. The third, who is also on his knees, and
appears, whilst worshipping the infant, to return him thanks, and
t6 acknowledge him to be the true Messiah, is Giovanni^ the son
'^ of Cosimo. Nor is it possible to do justice to the skill displayed
by Sandro in the heads in this picture ; the diversity of character
by which those of the young and the old men are distinguished^
** or the various points of view in which they are represented ;
some of them being seen in front, some in profile, others in three-
quarters, or looking down : the whole evincing all that judgment
in the composition, which could be expected from his consum-
mate mastery ; Sandro having so well characterized the attend-
ants of each of the three kings, that the servants of the one cannot
be mistaken for those of the others. It is certainly a most ad-
mirable work for colouring, design, and composition ; and so
beautifully finished that, even in these days, every artist is asto-
** nished at it.^ And, indeed, it acquired him so great a reputation,
as well at Florence as in other parts, that Pope Sistus IV., who
had recently built the chapel in the Papal Palace at Rome, and
" determined upon ornamenting it with pictures in fresco, appointed
'^ him to the superintendance of that work : upon which occa^
sion, Sandro himself executed the following (Subjects : — viz. when
Christ is tempted by the DevU ; — Moses killing the Egyptian, and

* This picture is now the property of the ftuthon

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CHAP. VI.]

SANDRO BOTTICELLL

40&

^^ when he assists the Daughters of Jethro against the Shepherds
" of Midian — also the Sons of Aaron, who, whilst sacrificing, arc
^ destroyed by fire from Heaven — and some of the figures of the
Popes, which are, in the niches, over the Sacred Histories:
Whence having acquired increased feme and reputation amongst
the many artists of Florence and other cities who worked in com-^
petition with him, he received from the Pope a considerable sum
of money. This he soon dissipated in his lodgings at Rome;
where, according to his usual custom, he lived without any
thought for the morrow ; and, having finished that part of the
work which had been allotted to him, he immediately returned
^* to Florence.

'' Here, being a person fond of novel pursuits, he commented
upon a part of Dante ; and designed and engraved the Inferno \
about which work he consumed a great deal of time. This,
preventing his painting, was the occasion of very great disorder
in his affairs. He likewise engraved many other things firom
designs which he had made ; but in an indifferent manner, because
he had but Uttle skill in the management of the burin ; so that
the best print which we see by his hand is the Triumph of the
^' Faith of Fra Girolamo Savonarola of Ferrara,* of whose sect he

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* I think I have given the true meaning
of this interesting passage of Vasari, relative
to Botticelli's engravings^ in the text ; never-
theless, for the further satis&ction of the
reader, the words of the Aretine writer are
here inserted. , '^ Dove per essere persona
'' sofistica coment6 una parte di Dante : e
** figur6 lo Inferno, e lo mise in stampa,
** dietro al quale consume di molto tempo,
** per lo che non lavorando, A cagione d'in-
'* iiniti disordini alia vita sua. Mise in
*^ atampa ancora molte cose sue di disegni
'' ch'egli haveva fatti, ma in cattiva maniera,
** perche I'intaglio era mal fatto, ande U

meglio che si vegga di sua mano i il
'' trionfo della Fede di Fra Girolamo 5a-
** vonarola da Ferrara/* &p. In the first
edition of Vasari, the passq^e respecting
Botticelli's engravings is shorter; but the
sense of it is the same. Indeed it happily
furnishes a satis&ctory proof, that the intei^
pretation given in the text of the terms
'' mise in stampa,' ' is accordii^ to Vasari's
true meaning. For after the sentence rela-
tive to the engravings from Dante, which is
verbatim the same in all the editions, he
says : ^' Mise in stampa ancora il trionfo
'* della Fede di Fra Girolamo Savonarola dn

410

SANDRO BOTTICELLI.

[chap. VI.

waa so active a partizan, that it occasioned him to abandon paint-
ing ; and, in consequence^ as he had no income to support him,
caused the greatest embarrassment in his circumstances. For,
being obstinate in his attachment to that party, and going about
^^ continually whining, he neglected to attend to his work ; and,
^' at length, when he was grown old, he found himself so poor, that
if Lorenzo de' Medici, (for whom, besides many other things, he
had executed considerable works at the Spedaletto of Volterra,)
^ as well as several other respectable friends who admired his
'* talents, had not assisted him, he would have been almost starved
^* to death. In the church of S. Francesco, outside the gate at
S. Miniato, there is, by the hand of Sandro, a circular picture of
the Madonna, with angels of the size of life, which was esteemed
a most beautiful performance.''
Vasari proceeds to relate a couple of anecdotes of Sandro's plea-
santry, not worth translating; and a third, which, as it contains
a second mention of his Commentary on Dante, is not wholly
uninteresting.

^' It is recounted of Sandro,'' says Vasari, *' that, for a joke, he
'' accused one of his acquaintance, to the vicar, of heresy ; and
^* that the person having appeared, and demanded the name of his
^ accuser, and the nature of the alleged offence, was informed,
'* that it was Sandro ; and that he had asserted him to hold the
** opinion of the Epicureans, who say, that the soul dies with the
" body. The accused person, therefore, desired that he might be

** /Ferrara ;'' and this piece^ he expremfy telb
iMi in his second and angmented edition, was
engraved by Sandro's own hand. The
words, '* ndse in utampa ancara (also) im-
mediately referring, as they do in Ais place, to
the engravings from Dante, appear, therefore,
to leave no doubt that Vasari meant to say that
those pieces were aUo engraved by Botticelli
himself; and not, as some writers have sup-
posedy by Baldini, or others, from his de-

signs. And, in fact, the general tenor of
Vasari's account, agrees in this respect ; as it
would have been light work to Botticelli,
who designed with greater facility than
almost any artist of his time, to prepare
drawings for the Inferno, for other artists to
engrave from ; and could never have been the
occasion of the inconveniences in his affiurs
which Vasari speaks of.

CHAP. VI.J

SANDRO BOTTICELLI.

411

*' brought, face to face with his accuser^ before the judge; when,

*^ Sandro having appeared^ he thus addressed the tribunal : — ' It is

^^ indeed true that I entertain this opinion of the soul of that fellow,

'' because he is a beast. Besides which, do you not perceive that

*' he is a heretic — seeing that, although he is so destitute of leam-

^^ ing, that he can scarcely read, he has the assurance to write a

'* Commentary on Dante,* and takes his revered name in vain ?*

" It is said," continues our author, " that Sandro always esteemed

those whom he knew to be studious of the art, and that he gained

a great deal of money ; although, from want of care and proper

management, he got rid of it as fast as he made it. At lengthy

being old and infirm, he was obliged to walk upon crutches ; and^

lastly, in the year 1515, he died at the advanced age of seventy-

^ eight, and was buried in the church of Ognisanti, at Florence.

^' In the Guardaroba of the Duke Cosimo, there are, by his hand,
•* two female heads, in profile, of great beauty ; one of which is
^^ said to be the portrait of a lady who was beloved by Giuliano
" de' Medici, the brother of Lorenzo; and the other, that of
'' Madonna Lucretia de' Tomabuoni, the wife of the said Lorenzo.
There is also, by the pencil of Sandro, in the same collection, an
animated figure of Bacchus, drinking out of a barrel which he
' '' holds up to his mouth with both his hands.

** In the Duomo, at Pisa, in the * Capella dell' Impagliata,' he
'* commenced a picture of the Assumption, with a glory of angels ;
f' but as the work did not satisfy him, he left it imperfect. In

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^ I would gladly be informed conceniing
Sandro's commentary. I have, sometimes,
suspected that he might have written, or iiir-
nbhed the materials for, the short account of
the early Florentine artists, prefixed to Lan-
dino's commentary; and that thb was all.
But Vasari's second mention of the circum-
stance in this place, coupled with the account
of the accusation of heresy, which he for-
merly stated to have been broiq;ht against

Sandro, upon the occasion of the altar-piece
pamted by him for Matteo Palmieri, leads
me to suspect that he might, perhaps, have
written some whimsical opinions as to the
etiquette and rules of precedence which he
imagined proper amongst die different classes
of saints and angels in heaven ; and that, in
these opinions, he had been found (as, I be-
lieve, Dante is in some places) at variance
vrith the established doctrines of the church.

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412

SANDRO BOTTICELLI.

[chap. Vl.

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■

S. Francesco, at Monte Varchi, he painted the picture at the
principal altar ; and at the chnrch of the ' Pieve' at Empoli, on
that side where is the St. Sebastian by Rossellino, he painted
two angels. He was among the first that discovered the method
of preparing and executing the decorations on the standards, and
similar things, carried in processions, by letting in the cloths, or
silks, of different colours, in pieces ; so that the colours shewed
on both sides the standard, and the work was not so liable to
fade : in which manner he painted the standard of ' Or San
Michele,' filled with beautiful and varied representations of the
Madonna,''* &c.

^^ Sandro was a most excellent designer, and drew a great deal,
insomuch that, for some time afl:er his death, his designs were
sought afi:er and highly prized by the artists ;f and in our bookf
are several which are executed with great fi-eedom and judg-
ment. In his historical compositions he was copious, and intro-
duced a great number of figures ; as may be seen in the fiieze
of the Crucifixion which the fiiars of S. Maria Novella bear in
procession, and which was worked in tapestry afi:er his designs.
Sandro, in fine, merited great praise for all his works of painting.

^ I am unable to underataod clearly the
meaning of the author in the two lines which
complete this sentence, and have, therefore,
omitted thenp.

f A stronger testimony to the merits of
Botticelli, than that the artists of Florence
should have coveted to possess his drawings,
even some years after the greatest painters
and sculptors of the sixteenth century had
made their appearance, can scarcely be con-
ceived. That the fact, however, was as
^ Vasari has stated, I can readily believe;
having, amongst other drawings by him in
ipy own collection^ two studies of heads from
mature, drawn on a tinted paper with a silver
ppjut; and touched in the lights with white.

which would do no discredit to the hand of
Rafiaello, or da Vinci«

X That is, the large volume in which Va-
sari had collected together the original designs
of all the greatest artists of Italy, from the
revival of painting by Cimabue to his own
time. The drawings contained in this ool-
lection (which, perhaps, consisted of more
than one volume) appear to have been dis-
persed about a century ago. The Duke of
Devonshire's cabinet possesses some of them ;
and a few others, especially a sheet of
studies by Cimabue, which was, probably,
the first leaf of the collection, are in my
own.

CHAP. VI.] SANDRO BOTTICELLL 41»

^^ and especially for those which he executed in his more delicate
\* and finished manner ; as was the case with the picture of the
" < Adoration of the Magi' at Santa Maria Novella, before-mentioned,
" which is really an astonishing performance. There is also great
'* beauty in a little circular picture by his hand, with small figures,
" which is preserved in the apartment of the superior of the convent
** * degli Angeli,' at Florence. Lastly, M. Fabio Segni, a gentle-*
^f man of Florence, possesses, by the hand of Sandro, a picture of
*^ the same dimensions as the said ^ Adoration of the Magi,' of the
u greatest possible beauty ; in which is represented ' the Calumny
^* of Apelles/ This picture was presented by the painter himself
^^ to Antonio Segni, his intimate friend, and under it we now read
^< the following lines^ which were written by the above-named
^ M. Fabio.*

^' Indicio quemquam ne falso Isedere tentent^
*^ Terrarum Reges parva Tabella monet«

** Huic similem Aegypti Regi donavit Apelles.
^^ Rex fiiit, et dignus munere : munus eo."

Here ends Vasari's Life of Sandro Botticelli,

The testimony of Vasari, in the above account, appears too
decisive as to the fact of Botticelli's having engraved many pieces
firom his own designs, and, amongst the rest, certain plates fi*om
the Infemo of Dante, to admit of any reasonable doubt concerning
it; or, at least, of such having been the common belief when Vasari
wrote : (unless, indeed, it be urged, that Vasari's expression, as to
his having engraved the Inferno of Dante, may refer only to a single
plate, not now known :) and as several engravings fi*om passages of
the Infemo are found in the Edition of Dante published by Nicolo
della Magna, in 1481, which, in their style of design and com*

^ This picture is now preserved, amongst of paiotiDg, in the collection of the Gallery
other specimens of the early Florentine school of Florence.

414 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. vi.

position^ closely resemble the known works of painting still existing
by this ancient Florentine artist^ we are surely not going too i&r,
when we conclude, that these pieces are those to which the Aretine
biographer intended to refer.

But although the text of Vasari warrants such a conclusion, and,
indeed, seems to authorise no other, still it must be confessed, that
these pieces from Dante bear, in their style of execution, a very
strong resemblance to the engravings which we have ascribed to
Baldini, and especially to the series of the Prophets, and the three
prints in the Monte Santo di Dio. Hence, no doubt, the opinion
of those who consider the pieces in question to have been designed
only by Botticelli, but engraved by Baldini ; an opinion which we
have already shewn to be in opposition, not only to the letter, but also
to the general spirit,'ofVasari's account. For, as we before observed,
the task of making certain drawings from Dante, for Baldini to engrave
from, could not have occupied Botticelli (who was one of the most
practised designers of his age) for that length of time, or have given
rise, in consequence, to that embarrassment in his affairs, which
Vasari describes. It is not improbable that Baldini, to whom
Botticelli was in the habit of furnishing designs, might, in return,
have instructed his friend in the art of engraving ; and that the
latter, who, as Vasari says, was fond of novel pursuits, finding the
task of engraving figures upon so small a scale more troublesome
than he had expected, called in the occasional aid of Baldini.
Perhaps, on the other hand, Sandro might now and then have
corrected the outline of Baldini's engravings, on the copper ; and
indeed I cannot help suspecting that he did so, in some parts of
the first print in the " Monte Santo di Dio ;'* especially the head
and the upper part of the figure of the young man looking up
to heaven.

Lanzi* was of opinion, that the first two engravings of the
Dante of 1481, only, (which, in all the copies of that work, are
found printed upon the pages at the beginning of the first and

• « Storia Pittorica,'' tom. i. p. 83.

CHAP. VI.] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 415

second cantos^) were executed by Botticelli himself; and that
the other seventeen^ which are sometimes found, pasted in the
vacancies left for the purpose at the beginning or at the end of
other cantos, were engraved by a different and inferior artist. But
I cannot discover a difference sufficiently marked, between those
two prints and the others, to justify such a supposition. Foi;
although, in some of the latter pieces, the heads and the extremities
of the figures appear to be drawn with less care and intelligence
than is the case in the first two, the same cannot be said of others.
Upon the whole, whilst 1 admit that the question is one of extreme
di^Siculty, I incline to the opinion, that a few of the engravings
. Jf^_?ntirely the work of Botticelli ; that he was assisted, more or
less, by Baldini in the execution of others ; and, that some of them
were engraved by Baldini alone.

Engravings far the Edition of Dante, printed at Florence, by
Nicolo di Lorenzo della Magna, in 148L

These prints measure six inches three-quarters in width, by three
inches three-quarters in height.

I. Canto. On the left of this piece, is a fine expressive figure of
Dante, lost in contemplation, in the depths of a forest. Nearer
the centre, the poet again appears, coming out of the wood, and
looking up, his left-hand raised over his head, towards the sky.
Both these figures are turned towards the right. A little further,
towards the right, the spirit of Virgil, the destined guide of Dante,
makes its appearance : the upper part only of this figure is seen.
In the fore-ground, on the right-hand, are a lion and a panther ;
and, behind them, the author of the poem is introduced, for a third
time, in a very animated figure, in a back view, running away
terrified from a wolf

In this engraving, as well as in most of the others of the series, the
artist has included the representations of different passages of the

416 SANDRO BOTTICELLL [chap. vi.

Canto, and, of consequence, of different points of time, within the
limits of the same composition ; according to the custom of the
early schools of painting. The whole is executed with great feeling,
and the heads and the extremities of the figures, especially, evince
more intelligence of design than Baldini was, I think, master of.

II. Canto. Dante and Virgil appear, on the left of the prints
standing, in earnest conversation, under the foliage of two trees :
the former being seen in a back view, the latter in fi*ont In the
middle, upon a rising ground, the two poets are introduced
a second time; Dante, as before, being represented in a back
view, and Virgil in front. The eyes of both of them are directed
towards a small and not inelegant female figure, intended to repre«-
sent Beatrice, which appears, surrounded by rays of glory, in the
sky. At the top of a hill, on the right, is the entrance into Hell,
over which is inscribed : per M£.

The two above described pieces will be found copied in Hei-
neken's ^ Id^e G^n^rale," and in Jansen, ' Essai sur 1' Origine de la
Gravure.' An indifferent copy of the second piece is likewise given
in Strutfs ' Dictionary of Engravers.'

III. Canto. On the left of this engraving, on the further side of
the river Acheron, Dante and Virgil are represented about to enter
the gate of Hell ; their figures being directed towards the right.
Virgil points, with his left hand, to an inscription over the entrance^
which Dante appears to read with emotion. This inscription, in
which the letter s is in both instances reversed, contains the first words
of the three celebrated lines at the opening of the third canto :

P£R MEsiva neUa citta dolente^
Per me si va nell ethemo* dolore
Per me si va tra la perduta gente.

^ So spelt m die edition of 1481.

. vt.] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 417

In the centre of the piece, Dante and Virgil appear a second
time, within the precincts of Hell; and, beyond them, a group of
unhappy spirits, amongst whom a king and a bishop may be
descried, is seen following a demon who* bears a standard. The
^;eps of all these figures are directed towards the right. On the
right of the piece, Dante and Virgil appear a third time, standing
on the brink of the river, and turned towards the left; and the
figure of Dante is also represented a fourth time, fallen down in
a swoon. Between these figures and the spectator,* the hideous
Charon, with wings, and the face of a monster, is seen, sitting in
his boat. This print is numbered 3 (the' figure reversed) and also
III. at the left corner at bottom.

A fac-simile of this engraving will be found in the fourth volume
of Uie ' Bibliotheca Spenceriana."

IV. CaiUo. In the upper part of this piece, towards the left, Dante
appears recumbent, and just awakened ft*om the swoon or trance
into which he had fallen by a clap of thunder. Further to the left,
he is represented again, descending, with his guide, into Limbo,
the outer circle of the infernal regions. This habitation of the
souls of the Poets, the Philosophers, and the Heroes of Antiquity,
is surrounded by seven circular walls with battlements, and, on the
right, are seven towers. In the circular space in the centre, Dante
and Virgil are once more seen, conversing with the spirits which
inhabit the place. An armed figure, in the middle, was probably
intended to represent Julius Caesar: Latinus, and his daughter
Lavinia,. appear seated; a little on the right of the last-mentioned
figure; and three other figures are represented standing. Further
to the right, behind the towers before-mentioned, appears Homer,
who is represented with a sword, and is followed by Horace, Gvid,
and Lucan.

The number of the piece is rudely engraved, in Roman numerals,
at the left comer at bottom ; and the Arabic figure, 4, is at the
right hand corner at top.

3 H

418 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. ti.

V« Canto. In the upper part of this piece^ on the Left hand, axe
seen Dante and Virgil, who are arrived within the second circle :
here Minos decides respecting the punishments of the condemned
spirits that are brought before him, some of which are seen pre-
cipitated into the abyss by a whirlwind. In the fore-ground, on the
right, the two poets are represented a seccHad time. Dante appears
calling to him the spirits of Paolo and Francesca, which are seen
mourning their fate in the space above. The number V is engraved
near the left hand comer at bottom.

VI. Canto. The centre of the print represents the monster
Cerberus, with wings, large claws, and three heads. He is seated
amongst ttie wicked, condemned of the vice of gluttony, whom he
tears in pieces ; at the same time that they are also punished by a
continued shower of enormous hail stones. The monster is turned
towards the left, and appears threatening the destruction of Dante,
who is introduced in the upper part of the piece, on that side, in an
attitude indicating his alarm. Under the figure of Dant^ that of
Virgil is represented, in the act of collecting a large handful of
earth or mud, in order to throw it at the monster, to quiet him.
On the right of the piece, Virgil and Dante are again represented ;
Dante being in conversation about the two parties of the bianchi
and the neri, with a Florentine, named Ciacco ; whose figure,
kneeling on one knee, is turned towards the right. The number of
the Canto is introduced in a reverse direction, so as to appear like
four, IV. on the left-hand, at bottom.

This piece will be found copied in the fourth volume of the
* Bibliotheca Spenceriana.'

VII. Canto. In this piece the punishments of the avaricious and
the prodigal are represented. These persons, amongst whom are
introduced a bishop, a cardinal, a king, and an emperor, appear on
tibe ground, on their hands and knees ; and are employed in rolling
large weights, by pushing at them with their breasts. In the middle

CHAP. VI.] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 41l»

of the print, near tbe top, the monster Pluto appears falling back-
wards at the rebuke of Virgil, V^ho is represented, with Dante, upon
a rising ground on the right The two poets appear again, lower in
the composition, tows^ds the left ; and in the middle, at bottom, the
upper part of the figures of Virgil and Dante are seen, for a third
time, descending into the fifth circle. The number of the canto,
seven, appears in a reverse direction, on the left-hand, at bottom*

VIII. Canto. In the middle of the upper part of this piece,
Dante and Virgil are seen, between two rocks, descending towards
the river Styx* On the right they appear, a second time, at the
bank of the river, about to enter the boat of Phlegias. In the
centre of the print, the "boat of Phlegias is again introduced, and
Virgil appears pushing away the spirit of Philippo Argenti, who
had endeavoured to insult Dante. On the left are two towers,
guarding the entrance of the burning city of Dite. A demon
appears running in at the gate ; and, behind him, Virgil is repre-
sented, for the fourth time, comforting and encouraging Dante, who
had been so terrified at what he saw, as to be induced to desire his
immediate return to the regions of light. At the bottom of the
print, near the middle, the number eight is inscribed in Roman
numerals reversed.

IX. Canto. On the right of this piece, the horrid figure of
Medusa is introduced ; and, in the middle, Virgil appears covering
the eyes of Dante with his hands, lest, seeing her, he should be
turned into stone. Behind the group of Dante and Virgil is a
tower, and a celestial spirit which appears crossing the river Styx
dry-footed. On the left is another tower, upon the summit of
which are three fiiries, enveloped in flames. The gate of this tower
is opened by the angel, with the touch of his wand, to the astonish-
ment and mortification of two groups of demons, which guarded it
on either side,

3 H 2

420 SANDRO BOTTlCELLf. [chap. vi.

The number nine, in Roman numerals reversed, is engraved near
.the middle of the print, at bottom ; thus : IIIIV.

X. Cafito. On the left, at the upper part of the print, is an open
.gate, guarded by two demons. Dante and Virgil have just entered
it, and find themselves in an inclosed place, filled with burning
sepulchres, containing the souls of those who have been condemned
of heresy. In the middle, at bottom, Virgil, accompanied by Dante,
is introduced, a second time, pointing to the cover of one of these
sepulchres, on which is inscribed, in four lines — papan astas io gu
ARDO ; the letter s in both instances being reversed. More to the
right, Dante is seen, a third time, in conversation with the Floren-
tine Cavalcante, whose head and left arm appear rising amidst the
flames out of his sepulchre. The figure X. is inscribed at the
bottom of the plate, near the middle. This piece is inferior, in
point of design, to most of the pieces of the series,

XI. Canto, Dante and Virgil are here represented in the upper
part of the print, on the left : they are seated upon a rocky emi-
nence, amongst burning sepulchres of a different kind fi*om the
former, in which the heads of their miserable inhabitants appear
through the flames. The cover of the tomb of the pope is again
represented, on the right of the figure of Dante ; and is inscribed,
in five lines, thus : anas tasio papa guar do — ^the s being in both
instances in its proper direction. The No. XL, in Roman numerals,
reversed, so as to appear like nine; thus: IX. — is inscribed at
the left-hand corner, at bottom.

XII. Canto. In the upper part of this piece, on the left, the
Minotaur is represented, who, at the appearance of Virgil and
Dante, being unable to do them injury, turns his rage against him-
self. In the distance, near the centre, Dante and Virgil are again
introduced, near the river of blood, in which those are plunged

■ IJ)AA'TS,Y M,y-

CHAP. VI.] SAWDRO BOTTICELLI. 421

who have been guilty of the blood of others. On the right-hand,
the centaurs Nessus, Chiron, and Pholus, oppose their passage. On
each side of the river of blood are placed the centaurs, that they
may shoot their arrows at those condemned spirits who venture to
raise themselves above the surface of the stream. Hie figure of
Dante is represented, a third time, in the fore^ground on the right,
seated on the back of a centaur, which Chiron has given orders to
carry him* The number XII. is inscribed, in characters reversed,
on the .left-hand of the plate, at bottom.

By the permission of George Hibbert, Esq. who, for that pur-
pose has obligingly favoured the author with the loan of one of the
finest copies of the Dante of 1481 in the kingdom, a careful fac-
simile of this piece is given to the reader in the annexed plate,

XIII. Canto. Dante, accompanied by Virgil, enters a thick
wood, in which there is no path, and wherein the trees are full of
knots, and covered with empoisoned thorns. The trees of this
forest contain, shut up within their barks, the souls of condemned
persons, and amongst their branches are the harpies. Dante and
Virgil appear three times in this composition : first, in the upper
part of the piece, on the left ; secondly, a little towards the right,
where Dante is seen tearing a branch containing the soul of Piero
delle Vigne ; and, thirdly, in the fore-ground, on the right, where
Virgil appears collecting together the fragments which have been
torn from the bush containing the soul of Jacomo da Padoua, by
the dogs employed to hunt down and tear in pieces the miserable
Lano Sanese. The number XIII., in Roman numerals, reversed,
is inscribed at the bottom of the plate, near the middle.

XIV. Canto. This piece represents a tract of sterile land, covered
with burning sand, where those who have been guilty of impiety
towards Heaven, are tormented by flames of fire falling upon them
from above, and resting on various parts of thdr bodies. The
figures of the damned are all naked, and running, or struggling on

422 SANDRiO BOTTICELLI. [chap. yi;.

the ground, in various attitudes, expressive of Hie tortures^ the^
endure. One alone, whose head is covered with a regal crown,
and who is intended to represent the proud and impious Capaneus^
lies recumbent, in tranquil slate, as if despising the utmost rigour of
divine vengeance. Dante and Virgil, who are on an elevated wall
on the left, appear to be: in conversation with Capaneus. The two
poets also appear, a second time, on the right. The forest, which
constitutes the subject of the last described piece, forms the back^
ground of the present one. The number XIIIL, reversed, is ii^
scribed on the left-hand comer, at bottom.

XV. Canto. In this piece, Dante and Virgil appear standing on
one of the two broad walls, or banks of stone, which form a boun*^
dary on either side the river of blood, and run in a diagonal direc-
tion, from near the left-hand comer of the print at top, to the middle
at bottouL The remaining space on the right is occupied by naked
figures, tormented like those in the last described print, by flames
of fire. The figure of Dante is near the left-hand upper comer of
the piece, and is tumed towards the right : he is stooping down, and
in earnest conversation with the i^irit of Brunetto Latini. Virgil,
whose figure is placed a little more to the right, and seen in a back
view, appears turning round and addressing Dante with the advice
that he should remember what Brunetto was telling him. The
number XV., reversed, is engraved near the centre, at bottom.

XVI. Canto. The same river that appears in the last described
piece, forms a more prominent feature in the present. Dante and
Virgil are standing on the bank, as in the other. Tlie Tuscan poet
is occupied in conversation with the souls of Ruggieri Guidoguerra,
Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Jacopo Rustichucci. Nearer to the
right-hand corner, the two poets are again introduced, and Virgil is
seen throwing tihe girdleof Dante at a monster that appears rising
from the bottom of the river, and of which Dante seems terrified.
The h^ad .only of this monster is seen* The number of the canto

CHAP. VI.] SANDRD BOTTICELLI. 423

is engraved in Roman namerals reversed, on the left-hand bottom
comer of the print

XVII. Canto. The monster Gerione, whose head only was seen in
die piece last described, is the most striking object in the one before
us. His head, which is that of a man, is surmounted by a crown ;
but his body is that of a serpent, and he has the claws of a griffin.
He is turned towards the right, and on his back is seated the poet
Virgil, who appears inviting Dante to place himself also on the
monster's back, before him. On the right Dante appears a second
time, in conversation with three condemned spirits, who appear
seated amidst the flames, each vrith a shield containing armorial
bearings hung round his neck. At the bottom of the piece, part of
the head of the monster Gerione is seen again, as well as the upper
parts of the figures of Dante and Virgil, whom he is conducting,
seated on his back, to the lower regions of hell. The number
XVII., in characters reversed, is inscribed near the bottom corner,
on the left-hand. A copy of this engraving will be found in
Mr. Strutt's Dictionary of £ngravers. This piece, and the preced-
ing, are executed in a cruder manner than many of the others, and
are, at the same time, inferior in point of design.

XVIII. Canto. Being brought by Gerione to the foot of a rock,
which forms the boundary of the eighth circle, called malebolge,
the two poets descoid from the monster's back. Dante and Virgil
appear standing on the left, upon the borders of the bolgia, whereon
a demon, armed with a scoui^e in each hand, is driving before him
the souls of condemned persons. In the distance, on the right,
Dante and Virgil are introduced a second time, and appear to be
talking together, concerning Venetico de Caccianimici of Bologna,
whose head is seen looking up from below; On the fore-ground, to
the left of this group, Dante and Virgil appear, a third time, bend-
ing forward towards the left, in order to discover Thais. The
figures in this piece have considerable merit, and the whole has

424 SANJ>RO BOTTICELLL [chap. m.

a.'soft effect. The number XVIII.^ revei:sed^ is indistinctly engraved,
at the bottom of the prints near the centre.

XIX. Canto. On the left, and in the centre of this piece, are
many round pits of equal, dimensions. Flames of fire issue, from
some c^ them ; and the legs of condemned spirits, each with flames
at their feetj are seen coming out of others. Dante, and his com-
panion Virgil, make their appearance four times in this piece. First,
on the left ; secondly, on a sort of arched rock, on the right ; and
twice at the right-hand comer, at bottom, where the upper part of
their figures only are seen. The number XVIIIL, in Romsui
numerals, reversed, is inscribed at the left-hand comer of the piece,
at bottom.

Besides the nineteen pieces above enumerated, Mr. Bartsch
describes a twentieth, which is no other than a varied composition
of the subject represented in the third plate of the series. This
piece was probably designed, as well as engraved, by a different
hand .fi*om any of the above; and is shaded with simple diagonal
hatchings in the manner used by Mantegna^ and adopted, soon
after the establishment of engraving, by a large proportion of the
engravers throughout Italy. It has no number. It will be found,
copied in outline, in the fourth volume of the ' Bibliotheca Spen-
ceriana,' being inserted as a variety, . together with the other nine^
teen pieces, in Lord Spencer's copy of the Dante of 1481.

Vasari, after having made mention, of the prints for the Dante,
observes generally, that Botticelli engraved various . other pieces
fi*om his own designs; and especially a print representing ' the
Triumph of the Faith of Fra GirolamoSavonarola, which he assures
us was preferable to all that he ever did: in that way.. Could this
identical piece by Sandro be discovered, which, excepting the
' Inferno of Dante,' is the only one Vasari specifies, it would,
doubtless, greatly assist /us in « determining concerning the others
by his hand... No ancient engraving, however, exactly answering

CHAP, ▼!.] SANDRO BOTTICELU. 426

the above title^ has hitherto been found ; and when I venture to
suggest that the following piece may, very possibly, be that which
the Aretine biographer intended to describe, I must, at the same time,
assure the reader, that I should not offer such a conjecture, were it
not, in the first place, that the design is so strictly conformable, in
its style, to the known works of Botticelli, as to leave, I think, no
doubt of its being his ; and, secondly, that the subject represented
in it, viz. the triumph and universal exercise of the Christian virtues,
appears to be such as Vasari, in his hasty, and, often, careless
manner of writing, may readily be supposed to have described under
the above title ; more especially if one of the two probabilities be
admitted, — either that he omitted to read the inscriptions on the
plate, or that he wrote fi*om memory.

THE PREACHING OF FRA MARCO DI MONTE SANTA

MARIA IN GALLO.

Fra Marco, of the Convent of Minor Franciscans at Monte Santa
Maria in Gallo, a village near Ancona, is represented preaching
fi^om a pulpit, which is placed near the bottom of the engraving
towards the left. On the pulpit is this inscription in small mi-
nuscules : frart marco de monte sancta maria in gallo. The Friar's
numerous auditors, some standing, others seated on benches or on
chairs, occupy the lower part of the print Beyond this audience^
the mount, or bank of Charity, instituted by Fra Marco, is repre-
sented by a large heap of money, from whence certain citizens
are distributing alms to the poor. On a label underneath, are the
words, MONS PiETATis, engraved in capitals ; as are all the other
inscriptioifs on the piece, except that on the pulpit before-men-
tioned. Further, in the back -ground, are seven fabrics, four on the
left-hand, and three on the right, in which are exhibited the Seven
works of mercy ; and a chapel is also seen, on the right, in which
Christ is introduced appearing to St. Gregory, during the celebra-

3 i

42« SANDRO BOTTICELLI; [cnkP.m.

tion of mass. Each of these fabrics bears an inscription : iNFlltMUS

ERAM ET VISITASTIS ME — ^NUDUS ERAM ET VESTISTIS ME, &C. &C. The

<jlistance shews, in epitome, within the segment of a circle, the globe
of the earth — the ocean — ^various cities, &c. and, over it, the vault
of heaven is represented by various belts or zones of parallel cur-
vature, wherein are placed the seven planets, and the fixed stars.
In the centre of the upper part of the print, over these zones, Jesus
Christ and the Madonna are seen, seated on either side of the gloiy
of the Father, which is represented by a circular space, left white,
and surrounded by. two rows of cherubims. Our Saviour, who is
on the left, appears giving the benediction with his right hand,
whilst, with the other, he holds a scroll, on which is inscribed:
VENITE BENiDiTTi PATRis MIL The Virgin -is on the right, and
holds in her right hand, a scroll, with an inscription commencing
thus : FiLii DULCissiME, &c. In the spaces on either side the figures
of Christ and the Madonna, are the host of angels, ranged behind
each other in four rows of similar curvature to the zones beneath —
^e entire figures of the angels in the front row being seen, but the
upper part only of the others.

At the bottom, on the left-hand, in the impression of this piece
described by Bartsch,* is the following inscription : Septem misefi-
cordiae opera. In aes incisa Fhrentiae sUb inventam incidendi artem,
cujus archetypum Romae. in Musaeo F. Gualdi Ariminen. MiliU S.
Stephani asservatur, et Urbano Vllf. P. M. Lud reddita. 1632.

The collection of Mr. Lloyd possesses an impression of this inte-
resting print, but without the inscription at bottom, which has been
scratched out. It bears the appearance of a modern impression
taken from an ancient engraving, . after the plate had been, coarsely
retouched all over. The figures are designed with great spirit, and,
in many parts, very skilfully grouped. In its style-, of engravings
it bears no resemblance to the prints for the Dante, being shaded
throughout by parallel diagonal hatchings, which, in many places,

♦ " Peintre Graveur," voL xiii. p. 89«

CHAP, vij ' SANDKO BOTTICELLI. 427

tesrminate abruptly at one end, near the contours of the figures, so
as to produce a harsh and disagreeable effect Perhaps it was someL
thing of this kind to which Vasari referred when he observed of
Sandro's engravings, ^ che V intaglio era^mal fatto.* It measures
twenty inches in height, by fourteen inches in width.

Mr. Bartsch considers the above inscription as decisive of the
engraving in question being, merely a copy of an ancient Floren*
tine print formerly preserved in the Museum Gualdi at Rome ; but
I think this by no means a necessary inference, and am rather of
opinion that the original, spoken of as existing in 1632 at Rome, wfts
the design, or rather the picture, from which Botticelh had engraved
the plate; and that this plate having- long laid neglected, perhaps iii
some convent of the Franciscan order. Pope Urban VIII. hearing of
it, might, in 1632, give directions that it should be republished. I
am, indeed, the more .inclined to believe such to have been the
case, because Botticelli appears often to have employed himself in
painting similar representations of. religious mysteries, ia composi-
tions of numerous figures on a small scale ; and because, in its style
of execution, the print in. question, so far from having the appear-
ance of a modem copy, bears the strictest resemblance to many
known Florentine engravings of the fifteenth century.

This plate, if I am right in the opinion that it is the true one, and
not a copy, must, according to Bartsch, have been engraved between
the years 1470 and 1480. He informs us that he collects thus much
from the Armales Minorum, seu trium ordinum a S. Franmco institU"
tommy by the father Luc Wadding. Ramae, 1735. Vol. xiii. p. 456,
No. XI. where the author speaks, of this ancient engraving^ as being
preserved in the collection of rarities appertaining to his order. Fra
Marco, Mr. Bartsch adds, died in 1496.

. . /J

:* Tliereis, imfortiuialely, no copy, of this piate itself, and |iot aa impression^from it

work of Wadding, in the library of the only, might have been preserved, in the time

British Museum, and, consequently, I have of the vmter, amongst the valuables of the

no opportunity of referring to it ; else I should convent to which he belonged. ' *
hope to &ifi, upon examination, tluit the

3 I 2

4t8 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. ti.

Since writing tbe above, 1 have had the good fortune to meet
with an interesting tract of Fra Marco, in octavo, or small quarto,
printed at Florence, in 1494, by Antonio Miscomini. The book
bears the following title : ' Da Fraie Marco dal Monte Sancta Maria
in GaUo dell ordine de Frati ndnori dejUa provincia deUa Marcha di
Ancona fik composto questo Ubro delli comandamenti di Dio del Testor
mento Vecchio et Nuavo et Sacri Canoni.' Under this title is a wood*
cut, spiritedly executed in outline, representing ' Fra Marco,
preaching,' of which Mr. Dibdin has, I believe, given a fac-simile
in one of his typographical works. On the reverse of fol. a. ii. is
another wood-cut, copied upon a small case, and with ccmsiderable
variations, from Botticelli's engraving above described. It is
styled, in a printed title over it, ^ Jigura deUa vita etema o vero del
paradiso et deUi modi et vie di pervenire ad qttello.' This work, bound
in a volume with one or two other Italian tracts of the same kind,
was formerly in the Pindli library, and is, at present, in the pos-
session of Messrs. J. and A. Arch. The text, I am sorry to say,
gives no further account of its author, than that, in the month of
December, 1486, he was preaching at Venice.

The following piece, as well in respect to its style of design, as
the manner of its execution, exactly resembles the last described
engraving in Mr. Lloyd's collection, and is, no doubt, by the
same hand.

THE LAST JUDGMENT.

The upper part of this print represents, in the middle, Jesus
Christ seated, with his arms extended, in a glory of a form similar
to that in which he is standing in the second print of the Monte
Santo di Dio, and bordered by ten cherubims. At a small distance
from these cherubims is the host of angels, ranged around the glory,
so as still to preserve the form of an upright oval. One of the angels^

CHAP. VI.] SANDRO BOTnC£LLI. 439

immediately under the figure of Christ, is standing on the clouds,
and holds the instruments of his passion ; namely, the cross, the
spear, the reed with the sponge, the nails, and the crown of thorns^
Four other angels are placed, two on each side of this figure, blow-
ing trumpets. On either side the outer glory of angels, near the
top of the print, the patriarchs, the saints, and the martyrs, are
ranged in two rows, fifbeen on either hand ; those in the front row
being seated on the clouds, and those behind, standing. Amongst
those on the left-hand, the Madonna, St. Peter with the keys,
Moses with the tables of the law, and Pope Gregory with the Holy
Spirit at his ear, are distinguished ; and amongst those on the right,
are St. John the Ba^Aist dressed in camel's hair, St. Paul with his
sword, and David with a harp or dulcimer.

In the lower part of the print, the composition is divided into
two distinct parts, by the sepulchres, of a square form> which their
inhabitants have just vacated. On the lefl, are the righteous,
whom the angels are collecting together, and conducting, up four
steps, to the gate of heaven. On the right, the devils are dragging
or thrusting the wicked into Hell, which is represented divided
into different caverosi destined to receive the differ^it classes of
sinners, in the heart of a mountain. Under these caverns, in which
the wicked are tormented in various manners, as in the representa-
tions of Hell described in fonner pages of this chapter, are the titles :

LUSSURIA, ACCIDIA, IRA, GOLA, AVARITIA, INVIDIA, SUPERBIA. The

letter s, in these inscriptions, appears in its proper direction.

This most interesting and spirited performance contains, in the
whole, not less than an hundred and fifty figures, and measures
nineteen inches and a half, in width, by fourteen inches in height.
An impression of it, probably taken from the plate afler it had been
retouched, is in the collection of the British Museum ; and another
similar, is in the possession of Sir Mark Mastevman Sykes, Bart.

The engraving now about to be described, is, in every respect,
so exactly what, from my acquaintance with Botticelli's designs
and works of paintings I should Expect from him, that, from the

430 S^NDRO BDTTIGELU.. [chap./m.

first moment I chanced to see iU I have entertained little or no
doubt of its being really a genuine production of his burin. The
composition, the design, the characters, are decidedly his ; and the
bold negligence, approaching to rudeness, with which it is engraved,
is truly characteristic of a painter ; at the same time that it appears:
to justify Vasari's criticism respecting the deficiency of Sandro in
the executive part of the art. Though engraved with less neatness
than the two pieces last described, it is, like them, shaded by simple
diagonal hatchings.

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE MADONNA.

The lower part of this piece, which is. engraved on two large
plates, intended to be joined together, represents the Apostles
assembled around. the vacant sepulchre in which the Virgin was
entombed. They are witnesses of her assumption, and are in
various attitudes expressive of reverence or astonishment. > In the
upper part of the print, the Madonna appears seated on the clouds/
borne and surrounded by angels bearing palm-trees, lilies, and
branches of the rose-tree. Seven of these angels, over her head/
are singing out of a large scroll : other angels, four on the right-:
hand and four on the left, are in the air, playing on musical instru-
ments. Upon a rocky eminence, half way up the print, on the
left, is St. Thomas on his knees, extending his. hands to receive the
girdle which the Virgin lets fall towards him. The distance presents
the view of a city.

This piece, when joined, measures thirty inches in height, by
twenty-one inches and three-quarters in width. An impression of
it is in the valuable collection of Mr. Lloyd.

Of the three engravings above described, it is proper the reader
sjliould be informed, that Mr. Bartsch places the first, and the third,
in his catalogue of prints by unknown Italian engravers of .the:
fifteenth century; and that, without assigning any authority, he

CHAP. Vi,]

SANDRO BOTTICELLI.

431

ascribes the second piece, representing the Last Judgment, to Nico-
letto da Modena. That he should not also have augmented the
catalogue of his favoulite Nicoletto ♦ with the large print last

* In a. former chapter of this work,
(p« 339, et seq.) I have had occasion to
notice the preliminary Essay prefixed by
"Mr, Bartsch to the thirteenth volume of his
'^ Peintre Graveur," and to animadvert upon
(hat writer's unfair attempts to deprive the
Italians of the honour due to them as the
inventors of chalcography. In his arrange-
ment of the catalogues of the -early Italian
ei^ravers, in the same volume, the German
critic appears to keep the same, laudable
purpose constantly present to his mind. He
had asserted in his Essay, that the Italians
never thought of tumii^ their invention to
any account until some time after the Ger*
mans had gone far. towards bringing it to
perfection: and it required some manage*-
ment that the bulk of the volume, following
that Essay, might not appear at variance with
such assertion. Ha^ng given an account,
therefore, of Uniguerra, and a list of die
thirty impressions from works of niello in. the
Durazzo Cabinet, he proceeds (instead of at-
tempting a mode of classification calculated to
exhibit the gradual prc^ess of the new art
St Florence, and in other cities of Italy) to
throw a very large proportion of die most
ancient Italian engravings together into one
undistinguished mass, with otliers executed
at the very close of the fifteenth century, or
in the early part of the sixteenth ; and
indeed, whether from carelessness, or M'ith
the view to throw doubt upon the antiquity
of the others, he inserts some pieces wUch
would more properly be arranged after tlMse
of the scholars of Marc Antonio. Next

follows his catalogueof Baldini, wherein. he
studiously avoids the mention of Strutt's. in-
genious argument in proof of the antiquity of
the eight ei^ravings of the planets and the
almanack in the British Museum. Hie short

. catalogue of PoUafuolo^B engravings comes
next,, and is followed by the, catalogue of an
unknown engraver, who marked his plates with
a P., and sometimes with O. P. D. C, and
dated one of them vrith die year 1511. Men-
tion is next made of Marcello Fagoltno^ of
whom he says : ** Pdntre qui a vecu vers Fan
1500, i Vicencer After Fogolino, comes
Girolamo Mocetto, whose engravings, Mr.
Bartsch mforms us, appear to have been exe-
cuted at die ck)ie of thej^eenib century, apd

' to b^ moreandent than those of Andrea Man-*
tegna — of course wishing his readers to infer,
that the engravings of Mantegna appertain

- more properly to the sixteenth than to the
fifteenth centuiy.

It is. needless to remark further on Mr.
Bartsch's arrangement of this volume, which,
at the same time that it affects to be chrono«
logical, is so managed as to leave the in-
cautious reader with the impression, that
Italy can only boast of three or four engraviers
earlier than the commencement of the six-
teenth century.

Mr.' Bartsch finds the- dates 1500 and
1519 on twaof the pieces of Nicoletto da
Modena ; and as the engravings of that artist,
at the same time that some of them bear the
n^earance. of considehible antiqaity^ are ex-
ecuted with much variety of manner, h^ has
found it conveuieat to his system -to intro^

432 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. vi.

described, is indeed somewhat extraorclinary ; since he says ex-
pressly of it — *' grande piece dont la taille rappelle les pieces de
** la Passion et les Triamphes de Pitrarque, graves par Nicokto de
« Modem:'

The following series of twelve pieces, representing the Sibyls,
are designed so exactly in the manner of Botticelli, and, in their
style of engraving, bear so striking a resemblance to the two above
described pieces of Fra Marco's Preaching and the Last Judg-
ment, that I think I incur but little risk of error, when I ascribe
them to the same artist. Indeed, the more 1 have examined them,
the more I have been convinced that they are his work.

THE SIBYLS.

These pieces measure about seven inches in height, (including
the bottom margins, each (^ which contains, like the Prophets and
Sibyls by Baldini, eight Italian verses,) by four inches and an eighth
to four inches and a quarter in width. Besides the verses underneath
them, they have also other inscriptions. The impressions of nine of
these pieces, preserved in the British Museum, have a harsh and
disagreeable appearance ; and were doubtless taken off after the
plates, being worn by frequent printing, had been coarsely re*
touched. The inscriptions are all in capitals, and the letter S, in
all of them, appears in its proper direction. I should consider
these pieces to be later, by several years, than the Prophets and
Sibyls of Baldini.

L Sibylla pebsica. She is seated on a cloud, from which pro-
ceed rays, and has her feet also supported on a cloud, like some

duce at least thirty of the earliest engnmngs ture to add, in defiance of eveiy rule of fair
of the Florentine school amongit them, with- eoonoinenrship.
oat apj aathority whatercr, and, I will fen^

CHAP. viJ] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 433

of the prophets of Baldini. Her figure is turned a little towards the
left. She raises her right hand, and points upwards with her fore-
finger ; and has a book on her lap, which she holds with the other
hand. Her long hair fells over her shoulders, and, besides a head-
dress of a conical form, she has her brows encircled by a wreath of
small flowers. Her title, Sibj^lla Persica, ^ is inscribed on the upper
part of the sky, on the right ; and on the left is an inscription,
beginning: EcceJiUus dei, &c. The verses at bottom commence
thus : Eccoper cut la bestia, &c.

. 2/ Sibylla Ljbica. She is seated and supported, like the last, on
clouds, and is inclined a little towards the left:. Her right hand is
upon her bosom, and, with her left, she holds a book which lies on
her lap. Her head-dress is fancifiil, and not inelegant, and, like
the sibyl Persica, she' wears a wreath of flowers. Her title is in
the sky, on the left; and, on the right, is an inscription: Ecce
vementem diem, &c. The verses at bottom begin : II di verra clidkt^
term sigfwre, kc.

3. The Sibyl Delphica. Mr. Bartsch does not appear to have seen
this piece, nor is it in the British Museum,

4. SiBiLLA Chimicha. She is seated, according to Mr. Bartsch^
like the two first described figures, and is seen in firont. She holds^
an open book with her left hand, at which she points with her
right, and wherein is inscribed : In pueriHa nut, &c. Her title,
Sibilla Chimicha, is engraved on a scroll. The verses at bottom
begin : Una Vergine Sancta, &c.

5. Sibylla ERriEA. She is dressed in a habit resembling that of
a niin, and is seated on a cloud, like the figures above described.
The cloud upon which her feet are supported, is enclosed within a
double circle enriched with stars. She is seen in front, and holds
a sword in her right hand, whilst, with her left:^ she supports a large

3 K

434 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. vi.

open volume, on which is an inscription, commencing: Marte
marietur, &c. Her title, Sibylla Eritw, is inscribed on a scroll,
part of which is seen on each side her head. The verses at bottom
commence : Risguardo iddio deUo excebo abkacoU^ &c.

6. SiBiLLA EusPOTiCA. She is seated on a singular and fiuoicifol
kind of cl^r, made of the branches of the palm-tree joined together,
and is turned towards the left. With her left hand she holds a
book, which rests on her knee ; and, with her right, a large scroiU
which rises up above her head, and bears an inscription, com-
mencing: Ex eccelso kabitaculo, &c. Her title is engraved, in
lai^r characters, in the sky, underneath the scroll. Hie verses at
bottom begin : Nella ndescola stando vidifare, &;c. Bartsch observes
that, in the first impressions of this piece, part of the drapery which
covers the right knee of the sibyl is left light; but tibat in the
retoudied impressions, this part is entirely covered with hatchings.
This is the case with the impression in the British Museum ; and
indeed I have little or no doubt that all the nine pieces of the series,
preserved in that collection, and now before me, are retouched
mipressions.

7. The Cumean Sibyl. Mr. Bartsch does not appeietr to have
been acquainted with this piece, nor is it in the collection of the

Museum.

8. SiBiLLA Samia. She wears a high head«dress, over which is
a veil, and sits on a handsome seat with a cudiion. Her figure
is turned towards the right. She holds part of her vest, which is
richly embroidered, with her right hand, and rests her left hand
on a large book, which is upon her knee. A naked sword lies,
traversing the print, at her feet. On a long scroll, which winds
behind her, part of it touching her left knee, is an inscription,
commencing: Ecce wm et dives et pauper, &c. Her title is
engraved, on the right, in the sky, under part of the scrolL

CHAP. ▼!.] SANDRO BOTTICELLI. 435

The verses at bottom begin thus : Echo che presto ne verra quel
die, &c.

9L Sibylla Phrigia. She is seated and supported on clouds, in
the mannw already described, and is turned towards the right. I^ie
wears a kind of turban, and firom under it proceeds a veil, the folds
of which are iaacifuUy, and not ungracefully, twisted round her
neck. On her lap is an open book, which she supports with her
left hand, whilst, with her right, she appears pointing to its con-
tents. On the left, in the sky, is her title ; and, on the right, is
an inscription beginning thus : Vemet de super ^m, &c. The verses
at bottom commence : Vidi lo exceiso iddio, &c«

10. Sibylla Tibubtina. She is seated and supported on clouds,
and is turned a little towards the right Iq her left hand, which is
extended on the right of the print, she holds a book, closed, at
which she points with her other hand. Her title is inscribed on the
left, in the sky ; and above, is a scroll, the windings of which are
seen on either side her head. On the scroll is an inscription, com-
mencing: Nascetur in Bettelem, &c. The verses at bottom com*
mence : El gusto iddio a tal mesiier ma data, &c.

11. Sibylla Eusopa. She is seated on clouds, like the last, and
is turned a little towards the left. She supports a large book, open,
on her knee, to the contents of which she points with her left hand ;
looking, at the same time, at the spectator. On the book is an
inscription : Veniet coUes et monies, &c. Her title is on a scroll behind
her head. The verses at bottom begin : Verra quel verbo etemo in-
maculato, &c.

12. Sibilla Agbippo. She is seated on clouds, like the last-
described, and is turned a little towards the left. She holds a large
book, open, with her right hand, and points towards it with her
left. In the book b an inscription : Hoc verbum ismsibile, &c« and

3 k2

436 SANDRO BOTTICELLI. [chap. vi.

on a scroll over her head is her title. The verses underneath begin
as follows : Quando sara questo sommo diUcto, &c. This print is more
coarsely executed than the others ; and was, I am inclined to think,
entirely engraved by the artist by whom they were retouched. Per-
haps the original plate of this figure had been lost ; and it became
necessary to re-engrave the piece, in order to complete the new
edition of the work. [Bartsch, * Pdntre Graveur/ tom. xiii. p. 95,
No. 20 ; and p. 98, No. 32.]

Baldinucci, as we have had occasion to remark in a former
Chapter,* says, in his life of Botticelli, that ^* that artist engraved
a considerable number of pieces from his own designs, but that,
in the course of time, they were, for the most part, destroyed, or
lost through neglect, in consequence of the great improvement
which took place in .the art of engraving after his time : inso-
*' much,*' continues he, ^* that the only engravings I have chanced
" to see by his hand, axe a set of twelve pieces, representing, in very
'* small figures, divers stories of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ "f
In this passs^e, I am of opinion, Baldinucci meant to say, that, in
consequence of the rapid advancement which Marc Antonio and
others made in the art of chalcography aft^er Botticelli's time, the
copper-plate printers,^ who were in possession of the engraved
plates of that ancient artist, soon neglected to print them, finding
them in little demand ; and perhaps also, that at length they effaced
some of them, in order that the plates, after they were polished
anew, might serve for other engravings, better suited to the taste of
the day. Baldinucci does not, however, appear to have had any-
express authority for the above remark ; nor should 1 have thought

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^ Cha^. i. pp. 41, 4£. copper-phte prioten appear to have beoome

f BaUHnucdi ** Notizie de' Professori del the chief proprietors of eng^ved pktes.

Disegno/' 8&c. Edizione con Annotatione throughout Italy, soon after the beginuiiig of
del Manntf torn. iv. p. 64. the sixteenth century.

• > ^ It tiHiy be proper to observe that the

CHAP. VI.] ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. 487

his words required any comment, were it not that Bartsch* seems
to have considered them as bearing a reference to some especial sup-**
pression of Sandro's engravings, by the interference of magisterial
authority.

I will only add, concerning Sandro. Botticelli, that I am much
inclined to be of opinion that, amongst the anonymous engravings
mentioned by Bartsch, in the thirteenth volume of the work so- often
referred to, there may be many others, besides those above described;
which might, with propriety, be enumerated in this place as the pro-
bable productions of his hand ; and especially the six prints of ^^ the
Triumphs of Petrarch," inserted by him, as has been before observed;
in his Catalogue of Nicoletto da Modena. I am, however, unac-
quainted with these pieces, and I found my conjecture, principally;
upon Mr. Bartsch's own observations as to the resemblance which
they bear ta some of those that I have seen.

ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO.

Nat. 1426. Ob. 1498.

We possess, of Antonio del PoUajuolo, a large engraving, bearing
his name; and he is said, by Vasari, to have executed several
others: but that author has neglected to specify the subjects they
represent ; and I have therefore, with a view to facilitate the dis-
covery of some of them, judged it expedient to extract such passages
from Vasari's account of PoUajuolo, as may serve to make the reader
acquainted with the general character of his works.

* ** Peintre Gniveur,'' torn. zui. p. 160. not, id fiict^ admit of such an interpreti*

'^ Les estampes de BoticeUo," says he, ** ne tion. He says of Sandro's engravings : '' le

** peuvent avoir exists qu'en tr^ petit nombre, '' qoali in tempo son rtmaie oppre$9e a cagione

*' parcequelen plnoches en out itikiupprimies, ^' del gran megliorare, cbe ha fatto quell*

** comme Baldinucci nous Papprend pon^e* '' arte dopo Poperar suo/' '
'' ment.'* The expression of BaMinucci will

438 ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. [chap, ru

Hiis artist^ one of the most eminent of his time in punting and
sculpture, was bom in the city of Florence, of very low parentage.
His father, however, fortunately saw in him the prcnnise of talent,
and, being too poor to give him, and his brother Pietro, a literary
education, placed Antonio with Bartoluccio Ghiberti, a gold«nith
of great reputation, and his other son with Andrea del Castagno,
who was then considered the best painter in Florence. ** Antonia,
'' therefore, under the guidance of Bartoluccio, learned the art of
*' setting jewels, acquired practice in works of enamel upon silver,
^ and was soon considered more skilful in the use of his tools than

any goldsmith of his time.

Lorenzo Ghiberti was, at this period, employed in the Brass
Gates for the Baptistry of Florence ; and, having noticed the
abiUty of Antonio, engaged him to assist him in that work,
together with several other young men«* Lorenzo, therelcnrei
having set him about one of the festoons, which he had then in
hand, Antonio made a quail, which is still to be seen, so beauti-
fully, and with such perfection, that it seemed ready to fly away.
** Antonio, therefore, had not been many weeks thus occupied,
^^ before he was allowed to be the best amongst those who were
employed to assist Lorenzo in his work; as well for his know-
ledge of design, as for his ingenuity and diUgence : and having
soon acquired the reputation of a consummate artist, he shortly
afterwards lefl Bartoluccio and Lorenzo, and opened a hand-
some goldsmith's shop of his own, in Mercato Nuovo, in the
above-named city ; where he for many years followed that art ;
designing continually, and modelling bassi-relievi, and other
things, in wax ; so that in a short time he was considered, as he
really was, the first in his profession.*'
After the passage, often before r^erred to, relative to Maso Fini-

^ At this time Autonlo was quite a lad, those who assisted him in the celebrated
J9B appears from the passage in Vasari's life bronze gates. See p. 289*
4}f Ghiberti, ^herp he enumerates some of

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r44

CHAP. VI.]

ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO.

439

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guerra** Vasari proceeds to inform us that Antoniof did some
stories in competition with that artist ; ^' in which he equalled him
in diligence, and surpassed him in design/'

*' In consequence of this/' continues he, ^^ the ^ Consoli dell'
Arte de' Mercatanti/ seeing the skill of Antonio, deliberated
amongst themselves, whether or not, as some stories in silver
were required to be made for the altar of S. Giovanni, Antonio
^' should not be commissioned to execute them ; for it had long
'* been their custom to allot, at different times, these works to the
*^ most skilful artists. Hiis question being decided in die affirm-
*' ative, Antonio executed two bassi-relievi, in which he represented
the Supper of Herod, and the Dancing of the Daughter of Hero-
dias ; which were of such excellence as to be coni»dered superior
to snj of the others which had been done. But above all is to
be admired his figure of S. John the Baptist, entirely of chiselled
work, which is in a space in the middle of the altar.j; Whence
'* the said ' Consoli* also commissioned him to make the silver
'^ candlesticks, each of three culMts in height, together with a cross

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* See pp. 265, £90.

t It 18 supposed, as has been before ob-
served, that PoUajuolo was first employed in
the works at S. GKo^nnmi (the Baptistry) about
1450. See p. SgO.

j; Vasari was in error when he ascribed this
figure of John the Baptist to Pollajuolo, as
we learn in Gori's Thesaurus Veterum Dip-
tychorum (torn. iii. p. 3 ] 2), where that learned
antiquary, upon the authority of die ori-
ginal books of the company above men-
tioned, informs us that it was the work of
Michelozzo, the son of Bartolommeo, in
1452. In the next pag^, Gori ascribes (no
doubt upon the same authority) the stoiy of
the Nativity of John the Baptist to Antonio
del PoUajuolo. And afterwards, ** dnae vero
** ex aigento compocitse (sunt) quae ostendunt

** Johannis Bapdstae in carcere decollationem^
** et ostensionem ejus capitis in disco tem-
*'' pore convivii natalitii regis Herodis ; opus
<' Jndre^ MicbadU del VerrceMor The
latter of these stories is, undoubtedly, the same
out of which Vasari has made two : ascribing,
them, at the same time, to Jntonio del PoU
li^uolo, instead of their real author, Andrea
Verrocehio: so that m this small space, he
has committed as many errors as he well
could. He seems, however, to have been
generally right in die encomiums which he
bestowed upon PoUajuolo, who, from the
before-mentioned Gori's account of the ex-
tensive works of silver made at this time for
die Company di Mercatanti, appears to have
been considered the greatest amongst the
artists employed.

440

ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO.

[chap. ▼!.

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of proportionate magnitude : all which works he finished with
the greatest perfection ; engraving upon them so many beautiful
things, that they have ever since heea the admiration of the
^ natives of Tuscany, as well as of strangers.

'^ In this profession Antonio laboured with incredible diligence ;
^^ as well in the works which he made of gold, as in those of enamel
^' (smalto) and silver ; amongst which are certain paxes in S. 6io-
*^ vanni of very great beauty ; for, although coloured with the fire,^
^^ they are so finely executed^ that they could be done but little
f^ better with a pencil. And in other churches, at Florence, at
^ Rome, and in other towns of Italy, are to be seen works of enamel
^' by his hand, which are truly astonishing/'

Vasari next mentions several young men to whom Antonio taught
the goldsmith's art ; and then proceeds to relate, that being de*
sirous of excelling in the more noble art of painting,* he quitted his
former profession, and applied to his brother Pietro, fi*om whom, in
a few months, he learned the use of colours. He adds, that, in
company with Pietro, Antonio executed many works of painting,
in oil colours, on board, on the wall, and on canvass ; after, which
he goes on to describe those which that artist painted without his
brother's assistance.

*^ In the chapel of S. Sebastian, belonging to the Pucci family,
" at the convent ' de' Servi,' he painted the altar-piece, represent*
^' ing the martyrdom of that saint. In this picture, besides the

* It appears, however, that Autonio did
not 80 80on abandon the Goldsmidi's pro-
fession, but that he exercised it, at least occa-
^nally, to a late period of his life. Baldir
nuoci cites a document of a determination of
the government of Florence, in consequence
of the victory of Volterra, to present the
Conte d' Urbino, who commanded their
forces upon the occasion, with some jueces
of plate, and, amongpt the rest, with a silver
helmet, made by Antonio del PoUajuolo;

and his Annotator, Manni, cites the public
archives, under the year 1489, as follows:
.Dominus FrancUcus Archangdi de CavaU
cantibus Cappellanus Cappdlamce FirgmU
Marie de BaronceQu in EccUsia Sancti
Petri Scheradii locat ad petmonem Jntamo
olim Jacobi del PoUaiolo Aur^id Civi
Fhreniino unam apothecam ad utum An--
r^dt in paputo S. Cecilie in Via di Vacch^
Tfcpia,

CHAP. VI.] ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. 441

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figure of S. Sebastian himself, which was painted from the life,
and is the portrait of Gino di Lodovico Capponi, are several
^* excellent horses,, well drawn naked figures, and admirable fore-
*' shortenings ; and, indeed, it is the most esteemed work of paint-
ing that Antonio ever produced. Throughout this work, he
sought to imitate nature to the utmost of his abilities ; and so
well succeeded, that, in the figure of one of the archers, who;
having placed the shaft of his cross-bow against his breast, stobps
down to pull the thong, he expressed in a most lively manner
** the exertion necessarily, employed, even by a strong man,, in
bending such a powerful instrument : for we see in this figure the
swelling of the veins and muscles, and even that the man holds
'' his breath, that he may acquire additional force. Nor is this
figure only worthy to.be admired, but also the others, which, in
various attitudes, bear ample testimony to the diligence and
**' research employed by the artist in this picture ; — ^industry which
^* Antonio Pucci, his employer, was so sensible of, that, upon the
** work being finished, in 1475, he presented Antonio with three
'^ hundred crowns; observing, at the same time, that he paid little
^* more than the value of the colours.* After this, he painted, at
^^ S. Miniato, on the outside of the church, , near the entrance, a
*' figure of S. Christopher, . ten . cubits in height; a work of great
^^ excellence, and finished in a style nearly approaching to the
^^ modern ; and which was considered the best proportioned figure^

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* Of this pictore there is an outline, very preceded him ; but, as a composition, it is

indifferently eiecuted, m the Etruria Pittrice, by no means to be admired ; for, indepeo-

and also a separate prmt of the two figures dendy of the archers being placed at measured

widi cross-bows, shaded ; but very inferior distances round the figure of the saint, four

to the originals. Vasari's eulogium of the of them are evidently copied, with little or no

picture is, notwithstanding, I think, greatly variation, from the same modelled figure,

exaggerated. It is painted in a good sober seen in different views ; and the other two

tone of colour, and with considerable force, .figures, chaiging their cross-bows, firom a

and the figures are more correctly and power- second model, one seen in a back-view, the
fully drawn than those of any painter who other in front.

3 L

442 ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. [chap. vi.

'^ of its size, that had then been produced.* He also painted a
'^ crucifix, with a S. Antonino, on cloth, which b placed in a chapel
'^ at S. Marco, at Florence ; and a figure of S. John the Baptist,
" in the ' Palazzo della Signoria.'

'^ In the house of the Medici family, he painted, for Lorenzo the
^^ elder, three pictures of Hercules, of five cubits in height In the
'^ first of these, wherein he is represented squeezing Antaeus to
'^ death, the figure of Hercules is most admirable ; as we see ex-
^' pressed in it, in the most lively manner, the great exertion of
'^ Hercules, who, grinding his teeth, and straining every nerve and
^^ muscle of his body to the utitiost, raises himself on tiptoe, that he
" may the better accomplish his purpose. Nor was he less suc-
*^ cessful in the figure of Antaeus, who, pressed within the arms
^' of Hercules, seems to have become faint, to have lost all vigour,
*^ and, with his mouth open, to be at the last gasp. In the second
'^ piece, in which he is represented killing the lion, Hercules presses
his left: knee against the breast of the lion, whilst with both hands
(grinding meanwhile his teeth) he tears open the jaws of the fero-
*^ cious animal ; unmindful of the wounds which, in its defence, it
^* is inflicting upon his amis. The third picture, in which Hercules
*' is killing the Hydra, is a most wonderful performance ; especially
'^ for the serpent, which is coloured with such skill, and so much
** like life, that it is impossible to surpass it. And, indeed, the poison,
" the fire, the fierceness, and the rage of the monster, are expressed
" with so much vivacity, that it is worthy not only to be celebrated,
'* but also to be imitated, in these respects, by all good artists. For
" the company of S. Angelo, in Arezzo, he painted, in oil, a stan-
*' dard to carry in procession ; on one side of the cloth of which he
" represented a crucifixion, and, on the other, a S. Michael, fighting
" with the dragon ; which last is one of the finest things that

* Baldinucciy torn. iv. p. 25, mentions wrote, the fresco was still in tolerable preser-

« tradition, ** that Michelagnolo Buonaroti, vation. His annotator, Manni, in 1769,

when a young man, frequently designed from rq^ets that it had been lately much injured by

this figure of PoUajuolo/' When Baldinucci the hand of an ignorant restorer.

CHAP. VI.] ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. 443

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*' Antonio ever did : for the figure of the S. Michael^ who, with
^^ undaunted courage, attacks the dragon, grinding meanwhile his
" teeth, and curving his brow, seems truly descended firom heaven,
" to work the vengeance of the Almighty upon the pride of
" Lucifer.

'^ Pollajuolo understood the naked body better than any artist
^* before him, and dissected many dead subjects in search of anato-
'* mical knowledge. And he was the first who discovered the •
** method of searching out the muscles, so as to represent them
in their proper form and order in his figures ; and of all these,
encircled by a chain, he engraved a battle, on copper ; and, after
that, he executed other prints, which are engraved in a much
** better manner than those of the other masters who had been
'^ before him.

*' By all these works, Antonio had acquired great celebrity
** amongst the artists of his time ; insomuch that, upon the . death
'* of Sixtus IV/' (in 1483) ^* Pope Innocent, his successor, invited
** him to Rome, where he made, of metal,* the monument of Inno-
cent, in which he represented him, from the life, seated in the
manner which he used when he gave the benediction; which
work was placed in the church of St. Peter, by the side of the
chapel that contains the lance which pierced the body of Christ
^* He also made the monument of Sixtus, upon which is the recum*
bent figure of that Pontifi^ extremely well executed ; and this
work being finished at a very great expense, and richly oma-
'^ mented, was placed, entirely insulated, in the chapel called aftef
that Pope's name.

It is said that Antonio made, for Pdpe Innocent, the design for
the fabric of the ^ Palazzo di Belvidere," although, as he had not
much practice in the executive departments of architecture, the
" work itself was conducted by others.

Lastly, Antonio and his brother Pietro, having both of them
acquired considerable fortunes, died, shortly after each other,
in the year 1498, and were buried at Rome, in the church of

3 l2

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44

44
44

44
44
44

444 ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. [chap. vi.

^ S. Pietro in Vincula ; where/ in memory of them/ a monmnent is
** raised^ on the left hand of the chief entrance of the church, with
^' the portrait of each in marble ; and this inscription :

Antonius Pullarius patria Flobentinus, pictor IN8IGN. aui
i>uoR. Pont. Xisti et Innocentu jbrea Moniment. miro opific.
RXPRBssrr. Re famil. composita ex test. Hic secum Petro

FRATRE CONDI VOLUIT. ViX. An. LXXII. ObIJT AnN. SAL. M.IID.

' 4i

44i

€€

Antonio made a basso-*relieyo of metal, representing a battle. of
Baked figures, which was carried to Spain, and was a work of great
^ excellence ; as may be seen in the plaister casts of it still preserved
** in the studies of many of the artists of Florence : and there was
^ found, after his death, a design and model which he had made for
^ Lodovico Sforza, for an equestrian statue of Francesco Sforza
^ Duke of Milan ; whidi design, varied in two different ways, is^ in
our book of drawings. In one of them, Sforza has, underneath
him, the city of Verona ; in the other, he is richly habited, and is
'' making his horse spring upon an armed soldier ; the whole being
^ supported by a pedestal ornamented with battles; Ihave been
*' unable to learn the reason why these designs were not carried
** into execution. The same artist made also some most beautiful
^ medals ; amongst which was one, executed upon occasion of the
*^ conspiracy of the Pazzi, representing,. on one side of it, the heads
** 0f Lorenzo andGiuliano de* Medici, and, on the reverse, the choir
^ of S. Maria del Fiore, with the fact exactly as it took place. He
^ likewise made the medals of some of the Popes,, and many other
" things, with which our artists are not unacquainted."*

In the short passage wherein Vasari speaks of Pollajuolo's env
gravings, there is a small variation of expression between the first

* The short remainhig paragraph of Va- taining DoduDg to our immediate pur<
sarins life of Polhguolo is omitted, as coo- poae.

CHAP. VI.] ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. 445

and the second editions of his work, which it may be proper to
notice. In the first edition, after describing PoUajuolo's engraving
of the battle, he simply adds : ^' and he also engraved other plates,
'' in a better manner than had been practised by other artists.''
But in the second edition, he says : '' and after that he engraved
** other prints, which were executed in a much better style of en-
^^ graving than had been practised by the artists who preceded
** him," — an expression, could we depend upon Vasari's accuracy,
firom which it would seem reasonable to conclude, that the battle he
speaks of was amongst the earliest of Antonio's productions in that
way, and that he afterwards executed other pieces of greater per-
fection. Be this as it may, there is little doubt that the following
loece.is the battle of naked figures which Vasari intended to de-
jscribe ; although, as the reader will perceive, the figures it contains
are not encircled by a chain.

A BATTLE OF NAKED FIGURES. ,

This celebrated print represents ten naked figures, each of the
dimensions of firom nine to eleven inches in height, armed with
various offensive weapons, and fighting in a wood. On the right-
hand, at bottom, a vanquished warrior, fallen on his back, is
stabbed by his opponent, who, standing behind him, raises his
head with his left-hand, whilst with the other he inflicts the wound.
The conqueror, meanwhile, is himself menaced by the uplifted
battle-axe of a man behind him. In the centre of the piece, two
warriors, each of them having hold of a chain with the left-hand,
are combating with sabres. Behind these two figures, is an excel-
lent figure of a warrior, who, menacing his adversary with a sabre;
which he grasps in his right-hand, endeavours at the same time,
with his left:, to j)revent the stroke of a battle-axe, raised against
him: and, fiirther to the left:, behind the last described figure,
is a man drawing a bow. In the •^fore-ground, on the left, is a

446 ANTONIO D£L POLLAJUOLO. [chap. vi.

spirited group of two combatants, armed with daggers, which the
reader will find carefully copied in the annexed plate. The back-
ground represents a forest ; and, on the left, upon one of the trees,
a large tablet is suspended, on wluch is this inscription :— opus .
ANTONii • POLLAiou . FLOBENTINL This piece, which was probably
engraved between the years 1460 and 1470, measures twenty-four
inches and a half in width, by about sixteen inches and a half
in height. The outlines of the figures are engraved with a firm
and deep stroke, and the internal parts are shaded, with sin-
gular delicacy and neatness of workmanship, by zigzag diagonal
hatchings. The whole, while it justifies the observation of Vasari,
that Pollajuolo possessed a &r more perfect knowledge of the con-
struction of the human figure than all the artists who had preceded
him, i^pears also to merit the eulogium bestowed on it by Lanzi,
who eloquently styles it — '^ la celebre battaglia d£ fiudi, tdtkno e
^' vicinissimo grado aljiero stile (U Michdangiolo.***

Of the following engraving of Pollajuolo, described by Mr.
Bartsch,f I am not aware that any impression exists in the collec-
tions of this country.

HERCULES COMBATING THE GIANTS.

Hercules, whose figure appears near the centre of the print,
wears a sabre by his side, on the scabbard of which is inscribed his
name, thus : hercules. He grasps an axe, with which he com-
bats the giants, who are assailing him on all sides, armed with bows,
poniards, and sabres. In the middle, at the bottom of the print,
under the figure of a giant, who, being thrown to the ground,
covers himself with his shield, is the following inscription : ouo-

MODO . HERCULES . PERCUSSIT . EX VICIT . DUODECIM . GIGANTES. This

piece, continues Mr. Bartsch, does not bear the name of P(dlajuolo,

* ** Storia Pittorica," torn. i. p. 94.' f " Peintre Grayeor,'' torn. ziii. p. £03.

CHAP. VI.] ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. 447

but there is every reason to believe that it is by his hand, although
it is somewhat inferior to the last described. It measures about

twenty-two inches in width, by fourteen inches and three quarters
in height. Mr. Bartsch adds, that the Imperial collection at Vienna
possesses an unfinished proof of this engraving, in which the two
upper comers of the print appear white. It likewise wants the
inscriptions.
Mr. Bartsch also ascribes the following piece to Pollajuolo.

HERCULES AND ANTJEUS.

The right foot of Hercules comes a little forward, and he
squeezes Antseus to death, by pressing him round the loins with
both his arhis. Antaeus, meanwhile, makes efforts to disengage
himself, by pushing, with his left elbow and right-hand, against the
shoulders of his adversary. He bends his head towards the left,
and appears to utter cries of agony. The back-ground is dark,
except a part of the lefl edge of the plate. This piece is curved at
top, and has neither name nor monogram. It measures about ten
inches in height, by near six inches and three quarters in width.

When I ins^t the following curious print, in this place, as a pro-
bable work of Pollajuolo, I must, at the same time, confess that I
do so in consequence of its general character as to design and conf-
position, rather than because it bears any particular or striking
resemblance to the celebrated battle of naked figures above
described, in respect of the mechanism of engraving.

A BATTLE OF CENTAURS.

This piece represents a combat between two centaurs, in the pre-
nee of three warriors dressed in armour; each centaur beinsr

448 ANTONIO DEL POLLAJUOLO. [chap. vi.

armed with a weapon, composed of a staff, to the end of which three
pcmderous balls are attached by three chains. The centaur on the
right-hand has the lower part of a lion : he is seen in profile is
turned towards the left, and has a large bow, and a quiver widi
arrows, thrown over his shoulder. . He raises his weapon with both
hands, and is about to inflict a tremendous blow upon his adversary ;
who, seen more in front, and turned towards the right, rests his
right knee on the ground, whilst, with both hands, he raises the
staff of his weapon over his head, to ward off the blow. The
lower parts of this centaur, whose broken bow is lying on the
ground beneath, are those of a horse. The human parts of both
these figures are drawn with great anatomical intelligence, and
energy of style. On the right, behind the first centaur, is one of
the three warriors, holding a short staff with both hands, and
turned towards the left ; and in the fore-ground, on the left, are the
other two warriors, who, turned towards the right, are attentively
viewing the combatants; Of these last, the one nearest the cen-
taurs is seen in nearly a back view, and rests his right hand on hie
haunch; the other leans with his right hand upon his sword, the
point of which rests on the ground. Both are excellent and well
poised figures. The back-ground represents a hilly landscape with
a few scattered trees.

The outlines of the figures, in this piece, are engraved with a
firm, deep stroke, but the shading is executed with delicate hatch-
ings, loosely thrown in various directions. It is remarkable that^
in many parts of the plate, even in such as are central, the marka
of holes, made by nails or pegs of metal, afterwards filled up, are
clearly perceptible. These nail-holes appear to be too many in
number to justify the supposition, that they were made in order to
keep the plate steady whilst printing ; and I am, consequently, not
without my suspicions that the plate may have been originally
engraved and used for the decoration of some piece of furniture,
and that, at an afl»r period, it was removed fit)m its original
situation, in order that impressions might be taken fit)m it This

CHAP.' VI.]

ANONYMOUS ENGRAVINGS.

449

interesting prints which has escaped the researches of Bartsch,
was purchased hy its present possessor, Mr. Lloyd, from the
Riccardi collection. It measures twelve inches and five-eighths in
width, by eight inches in height.

VARIOUS ANONYMOUS ENGRAVINGS OF THE EARLY

FLORENTINE SCHOOL.

THE LIFE OF THE MADONNA.

This series is composed of fifteen plates ; each measuring eight
inches and three quarters in height, by six inches and a half in
width. Bartsch, as I have had occasion to remark in a former page,*
erroneously ascribes the work to Nicoletto da Modena. Heineken
was nearer the mark when he inserted it in his catalogue of Botti->
celli;*t* ^ho, nevertheless, was not, I think, the author. 1 have
seen only two of the pieces ; but these have been sufficient to con-
vince me that the work is of the early Florentine school : they are
designed in the best style of the fifi:eenth century, and are finished,
for the most part, in a very delicate manner, by diagonal hatch-'
ings. I have recourse to Bartsch, (Peintre Graveur, tonu xiiL
p. 257, et seq.) for a description of the pieces.

* See note, pp. SIS, 519. Bartoeh swells
Ibe catalogue of Nicoletto di Modeoa with
these and other ancient Florentine engravings
without deigning to assign any reason what-
ever for so doing. It certainly might have
been expected of him that he should account,
in some way or other, for the modesty of
Nicoletto, in omitting to mark so many of
his most capital pieces, even with his mono-
gram ; especially as we have so many trivial
ei^ravings of single figures of saints by his

band, on which be has signed his name at
length. The truth is, that very few of the
early Florentine engravers marked their plates
with their names or cyphers, and that Nico-
letto, seldom, if ever, omitted to mark his.

f ^ Diet des Artistes^** tom. iii. p. 213.
Heineken entitles the series, " the Life of
Christ,^ and is of opinion that it comprises
more than fifteen pieces ; though he had only
seen that number.

460 ANONYMOUS ENGRAVINGS OF [chap. vi.

L The Annunciation. The angel Oabiiel is represented kneel-
ing, on the left of the prints with a branch of lily in his right-*hand.
He is turned towards the Virgin, who appears rising. from her
orations ; and, with both her hands, expresses her astonishment at
the unexpected messenger. The back-ground shews the interior of
a vaulted chamber, supported in the middle by a column.

II. The Visitation. The Virgin and S. Elizabeth are repre-
sented meeting, near the middle of the print, and hold each other
by the hand. . On the left, behind the Virgin, Joseph is seen,
resting with both hands on his staff; and, on the right, behind
Elizabeth, Zaccharias appears, holding a stick with his right-hand,
and, with his left, raising a part of his mantle. These four figures
stand on a magnificent pavement of black and white marble, in
front of a temple, supported by columns, which constitutes the
back-ground. An impression of this engraving is in the collection
of Mr. Lloyd.

III. The Nativity. Near the middle of this piece, the Ma-
donna is seen on her knees, adoring the newly bom infant, who id
lying on a bed of straw. S. Joseph is standing by, on the left of
the print ; and, on the right, behind the Virgin, is the stable, with
the ox and the ass. In the distance, on the right, the angel an-^
nounces the birth of Jesus to the shepherds, who are assembled on
a hill ; and, at the top of the print, in the middle, the Almighty
appears, surrounded by a glory of angels.

IV. The Presentation in the Temple. In the middle of the
print, Simeon is represented, holding the infant Jesus, who is quite
naked, and seated on a sort of dtar of a hexagonal form. The Ma-
donna is standing on the right, and Joseph, who is prepared with
the offering of a pair of doves, is on the left. The scene is a mag-
nificent pavement in front of a temple.

CHAP. YiJ THB EARLY FLOBENTINE SCHOOL.

451

V. Christ disputing with the Doctors. The youthful JesuB
is represented standing on an elevated plane in the centre of the
engraving, in the back-ground. The doctors appear sitting on the
two sides of the temple ; with the exception of two of them, who are
standing in the fore-ground of the piece ; the one, seen in profile,
on the left ; the other, represented more in a back view, on the
right.*

VL Christ praying on the Mount of Olives. Jesus is seen
in the back-ground, on the right, turned towards the angel, who is
represented holding a chalice. The three disciples appear sleeping
in the fore-ground ; the first, on the left-hand, is lying on his back ;
the second, on the right, is seated, and rests his head on both his
hands ; and the third is lying down in the middle, at a little distance
firom the others.

VII. Christ insulted in the Palace of the High Priest.
Jesus appears seated on a sort of throne, under a vaulted roof, in
the middle of the back-ground; his head being crowned with
thoms,f and his eyes covered with a bandage. He holds a reed
with his right hand, and virith his left a globe. He is surrounded
and insulted, in various manners, by a great number of the Jews,
amongst whom may be remarked a man, standing on the left of
Christ, who strikes him upon the head with his fist.

VIII. The Flagellation. Our Saviour appears standing in

* I bave little or no doubt that the two
figures, which Mr. Bartsch here describes
as standing on either side, were intended
for the Madonna and Joseph: for, in
another page, (264) speaking of the varia-
tions between ihejint and the tecond impres-
sions of the piece, he says: ^^ Vauriolt
** du saint, qui est debont au demnt de h
'< droite, blanche dans la premiire ^preuve.

'^ est couverte de tailles dans I'^preuve re-
" touch^e."

f In describing, afterwards, the variations
in the two different impressions of this piece,
(p. 965) Mr. Bartsch contradicts what he
here asserts : for, in speaking of the second
impression, he says : '* La t^te dn Christ
^' est couronn^ d'^pines, tandis qu^elie ne
^^ ttst fas dans la premOre ^^reuveJ*

3 M 2

452 ANONYMOUS ENGRAVINGS Of [chap, vi-

the middle of the print ; his hands and his body being bound to a
column. • He is scourged by two men armed with whips, and, at the
same time, the man on the left, pulls the cord by which he is
bound. High up, in the back-ground, two of the superiors of the
Jews are seen looking on from a balcony ; the one on the left-hand
having a wand

IX. Christ bearing his Cross. Jesus, bearing his cross, di-
rects his steps towards the right, escorted by a great number of
soldiers armed with spears. Meanwhile the commander of the
troops, mounted on horseback, . lift;s his mace, and appears to
threaten St John and the Madonna, who are seen in the fore-
ground on the left-hand, as if desirous to prevent their following
the Saviour.

■

X. The Crucifixion. Jesus Christ is represented on his cross,
in the middle of llie print, between the crosses to which are at-
tached the two thieves. Beneath the crosses are a great number of
soldiers, on foot and on horseback. In the middle of the fore-
ground, the Madonna is . seen fainting, supported and assisted by
several pious women, amongst whom is one, on the left-hand, who
is on her knees, and seen in a back view.

XI. The Resurrection. Christ is represented in the middle of
the print, coming out of the tomb. He holds a banner in his left-
hand, and, with his right, gives the benediction.* Six guards are
seen sleeping, in different attitudes, on the ground, around the sepul-
chre. Amongst them one in particular may be remarked, who is

* In the early repreaentatioiu of die R^ for a amall fiberty ivhioh I have taken in n j

surrectiony the figure of Chriat almost always, tanslation c>f Mr. Bartsch's description of

perhaps I might say invariably^ appears giving this piece. He says, '' II tient uoe banni^re

the benediction with .the right-hand, and " de la main gauche, et fait de la main droile

boldii^ a banner with the other. 1 mention ** tie\6e un geste cocnme pour marquer sa

the circumstance in this place as the reason ** R^urrection.^'

CHAP. VI.] THE EARLY FLORENTINE SCHOOL. 453

lying flat on his stomach, on a large shield, in the fore-ground, on
the lefl-hand. Mount Calvary and the thtee Crosses appear in
the distance, on the right.

XII. The Ascension.* 'Hie figure of Christ is seen, in the
middle of the top of the print, standing on a cloud surrounded with
rays of glory, and worshipped by four angels, two of which are in
the air, and the others kneeling on the clouds. Tlie. Apostles, and
the Virgin Mary, who appears on the right-hand, are ranged beneath
on their knees, in a semicircular row.

XIII. The Descent of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost
appears descending upon the Apostles and the Virgin Mary, who
are assembled together in the upper apartment of a building, around
the bottom of which the inhabitants of Jerusalem are represented,
in various attitudes, expressive of lixeir admiration and astonish-
ment. Amongst them, on the right, is a man standing, with his
legs asunder, at whose feet is a dog, barking.

XIV. The Virgin presenting her Girdle to St. THOMAS.f
The Madonna is represented in the middle of the upper part of the
print, seated on the clouds : she is surrounded by rays, and also by
a glory of angels. St. Thomas is on his knees, on the right, near
the tomb of the Virgin, which is filled with flowers. He is seen in
a back view, and lifts up his arms to receive the girdle, which she
presents to him with both her hands. In the back-ground is a
landscape.

XV. The Coronation of the Virgin.

Of this piece, I happen to possess a first impression in my own

* Mr. Bartsch, cardessly and erroneously, precede ; and «l80 makes the mistake of

styles this piece, '' the TransfiguratioD.'' styling the apostle, to ivhora the Madonna

t Mr. Bartsch places this piece after ' the presents the girdle, St. John the Evangelist,

Coronation of the Virgin/ which it ought to instead of St. Thomas.

454 ANONYMOUS ENGRAVINGS OF [chap. vi.

small collection ; and as from the elegance and purity of its design^
the richness of its composition, and the delicacy with which it is
engraved, it is worthy to he considered one of the most beautiful
and interesting specimens of the early Florentine school, the reader,
I trust, will not be displeased to have a more detailed description of
it than Mr. Bartsch has enabled me to give of any of the other
pieces of the series.

The upper part of the print represents the Almighty, seen in a
front view, and seated on a throne, raised upon an elevated platform,
to which, in the near-ground, there is an approach by three steps.
This throne is covered with a canopy of Gothic architecture, sur-
mounted by a dome, which, with the lantern over it, reaches to
the top of the piece. On either side the throne, as in the Pax by
Finiguerra, in my possession, a cornice is continued to the edge
of the print ; and over each of these cornices is a rich frieze, com-
posed of ornaments of foliage, two cornucopias, and a vase from
which issue flames of fire. The Madonna is devoutly kneeling
before the Almighty, who, with both hands, is about to place the
crown upon her head : her figure is seen nearly in a back view, but
turned a little towards the right. On either side the throne is a
pilaster, from the lower part of which a parapet projects forward,
as in Finiguerra's Pax of the Assumption ; and on each parapet, as
in that Pax, is an angel, standing, holding a vase of flowers. Lower
down, belund each parapet, the upper part of an angel is seen,
holding a branch of lily : lower still, behind, and leaning on two
lower parapets, which join to, and form a continuation of the former
ones, are two other angels with lilies, one on each side ; and at the
termination of each of these lower parapets is an angel, on its
knees, supporting a festoon of flowers. Higher in the piece, nearly
upon a level with the two angels holding the vases of flowers, and
immediately under the two cornices before mentioned, stand six
angels, three on either side, blowing trumpets ; and in the space on
each side the throne and the elevated platform, stand a multitude
of saints of both sexes. In the near-ground are four other saints.

cBAP. VI.] THE EARLY FLORENTINE SCHOOL. 455

seen in a back view, on their knees. Of these last, the saint nearest
the left-hand is turned towards the right, and has at the back of his
head a solid diadem, or glory, of an oval form ; the only one in the
piece, except the diadem round the head of the Almighty. The
next saint, nearer the centre, is a youthful figure, and wears a gar-
land of small flowers : this figure is also turned a little towards the
right, and kneels with one knee on the lowest of the three stqis
before mentioned. The third saint, more to the right, kneels with
both knees on the same step, and is turned a little towards the lefL
The figure of the fourth saint, near the right-hand border of the
piece, is also turned towards the left ; but his head, which is oma*^
mented with a bishop*s mitre, looks upwards towards the right

The two following interesting specimens of the early Florentine
school, are in the possession of Mr. Lioyci.

A BEAR HUNT.

Hiis piece represents a hunter, who, with his fire dogs, is attack-
ing and subduing a bear. The bear is turned towards the right,
and has hold of one of the dogs with his paws and teeth : mean^
while two other dogs are biting his head, a fourth has seized him
by the thigh, and the huntsman, who is behind the bear, on the
left, is piercing the animal with his spear. A tree with an upright
stem, perhaps intended for a palm-tree, rises behind the group,
near the centre; and, in the distance, is a broad river winding
amongst rocks. This engraving is not noticed by Bartsch. It is
executed much in the manner of the planets of Baldini, described
in a former part of this chapter, though the figures are much larger.
Perhaps it might, with propriety, have been arranged in our cata-
logue of that artist's supposed works. It measures eleven inches
and a quarter in height, by eight inches in width, and was formerly
in the Riccardi collection.

456 ANONYMOUS ENGRAVINGS; [chap, vi

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN.

The lower part of this print represents eleven of the Apostles^*
who, kneeling around the vacant sepulchre of the Madonna^ are'
witnesses of her Assumption. The eyes of all of them, with the^
exception of one on the right, are directed upwards towards
heaven, where the Virgin appears, standing in the clouds, amidst
a glory of cherubims, and attended by six angels seated on clouds;
three on each side of her, and playing on musical instruments.
Upon a bank on the left-hand, in the middle distance, is St. Th<Hnas,
who, kneeling on his right knee, has just received the Madonna's
girdle. The distance represents a river, upon which are five small
boats, and a rocky country interspersed with buildings. Amongst
these, on the right-hand, is a water-mill, near which, in 4 square
court, are eight men threshing corn.

The draperies in this piece are designed with much purity though
dryness of manner ; the figures are arranged with greater formality
than is common in the works of those artists of the Florentine
school who flourished towards the end of the fifteenth century, and
the heads of the Madonna, the Angels, and all the Apostles, have
glories or diadems of a solid appearance; marks of distinction
which, as I have observed in another place, fell gradually into
disuse soon after the middle of the century, and are not, indeed,
once found in the large two-sheet print of the Assumption by Bot-
ticelli, before described.

Upon the whole, I am inclined to consider this engraving very
ancient. I must observe, however, that the impression in Mr.
Lloyd's collection appears to have been taken off after the plate,
which was originally finished in a very delicate manner, with cross
hatchings, had been retouched all over. It measures seventeen inches
in height, by twelve inches in width, and is not mentioned by Bartsch.

The following piece is executed in a very different style of

CHAP. VI,]

GHERARDO.

457

engraving from any hitherto described in this work* The shadings
whicb^ in the engravings ascribed to Baldini, is, for the most part,
effected by close hatchings, crossing each other in various direc^
tions, but without curvature, is here represented by fine curved
strokes, terminating, in many instances, in the light parts of the
figures, with dots or other short delicate touches of the burin, in
the manner used by Martin Schongaver and other ancient engravers
6f the German schooL The landscape also exhibits a similar kind
of workmanship* Now we learn from Vasari that the prints of
Schongaver made their way into Florence in considerable numbers^
many years before the end of the fifteenth century ;* and I am
therefore of opinion that this plate was executed by some early
artist of the Florentine school, who, being struck with the supe-
riority of mechanism displayed in those engravings, desired to^
imitate them.

Possibly it may be the work of that Gherardo, a contemporary of
Domenico Ghirlandajo, who enjoyed the reputation of a good
painter in mosaic, distemper, and, more especially, in miniature ;
and of whom Vasari relates, that he engraved an excellent copy of
one of Martin's engravings representing a Crucifixion, vidth the
Madonna and St, John the Evangelist standing on either side the
eross,f and also some other pieces. If, at any future time, Gherardo's

* According to Vasari, Michelangiolo
Buonaroti, when a boy, copied the celebrated
print of St. Anthony, by Schongaver, in
colours. This must have been before the
year 1490, since Buonaroti was bom in 1474.

f In the first edition of his work, Vasari
says nothing of Gherardo's engravings, but
be is more explicit as to the time of his
death than he is in his subsequent edition.
In both of them he states that Gherardo died
at the age of sixty-three ; but in the first edi-
tion, only, he states that his decease was ac-
celerated by grief for the death of Lorenzo

de' Medici, his patron. The artist, therefore,
probably died about 1493. Vasari, in the
life of Gherardo, in his second edition, after
speaking of certain works of mosaic executed
by him for Lorenzo de' Medici, proceeds as
follows : " Whilst Gherardo was employed
'' in these works, there were brought to Flor
" rence certain prints, in the German style,
'' executed by Martin, and Albert Durer :**
[the mention of Albert Durer^s engravings
in this place, must be put to the account of
the writer's accustomed carelessness,] '' and
'' that kind of engraving happening to plea<ie

3 N

458

GHERARDO.

[chap, vi^

copy of this Crucifixion should chance to be discovered^ it may
then be possible to ascertain^ by a comparison of it with the pieco
about to be described, the truth or fallacy of my conjecture.

THE DEATH OF VIRGINIA,

In the middle of the piece, Virginius, dressed in armour, and
if earing a helmet ornamented with wings, is about to plunge his
uplifted poniard into the bosom of his daughter, who is . standing
beside him on the left. Both these figures are seen in a front view^
Bdiind the figure of Virginia^ on the left, is another female, seen
in profile, and turned towards the . right, who, raising her arms^
endeavours to arrest the stroke of the dagger. On the right, is the
Consul Appius. He wears a crown of laurel, and is standing in
the midst of a group of men, whose various gestures are expressive
of terror and astonishment. On the left, in the back-ground, are
three soldiers, two of them armed with spears ; and in the fore-
ground, on the same side, is a child, who holds a torch, conversing
with another child, who is astride on a walking-stick, and holds
a sort of weather-cock afiixed to the end of a wand in his left hand.
The back-ground represents a rocky landscape, with here and there
a tree, without any foliage.

The two female figures in this piece are sufiiciently gracefiil, but

<< him very much, he set himself to work
'^ with the burin, and copied some of those
'* engreviDgs extremely well, as may be seea
'^ in certain pieces in our book, together with
** various designs by his hand.'* In the intro-
duction to the life of Marc Antonio, Vasari
mentions, amongst other engravings of Martin
Schongaver, the piece noticed in the text,
of ** Christ on the Cross, with St. John and
** the Madonna, standing ; which print," con-
tinues he, '^ was in so good a style of en-
** gravmg, that Gherardo^ a Florentine

'' miniature painter, applied himself to copy
'' it with the burin, and succeeded admirably;
" /though, as he did not live long afterwards,
*' he did not pursue the art further, (non
'^ seguiti piii oltre.)" The fair sense to be
collected from all these statements seems to
be, that, towards the latter part of his life,
Gherardo employed himself occasionally io
engra^ng, and that, by way of improving him-
self in the management of the burin, he
copied a few of Schongaver's prints.

CHAP, vij ROBETTA. 459

those of the men> especially the group of Appius and his attendants,
have little to recommend them. The details of omament in the
dresses of the figures are finished throughout with scrupulous dili-
gence/ but the naked parts are not so well understood; and the
whole savours much of the taste of an artist who was more accus*
tomed to paint or design in miniature, than to execute works upon
a large scale. This print measures eleven inches and five-eighths in
width, by nme inches and a quarter in height.

We shall close this series of the engravings of the early Floren-
tine school, with some account of the works of Robetta.

ROBETTA.

In the life of Gio. Francesco Rustichii a Florentine sculptor of
some eminence, Vasari gives an amusing account of a society or
club, which was founded by Gio. Francesco, and consisted of
twelve members, most or all of them artists. The party styled them-
selves * la compagnia del Paiuolo,^ and it was their custom to meet
at supper, alternately, at each other's houses. In the catalogue of
the members of this club, after the name of Rustichi, we read,
amongst others^ the names of Andrea del Sarto, Domenico Puligo,
Aristotile da San Gallo, and Ruberto di Filippo Lippi, all painters ;
and with these was associated Robetta, who was, doubtless, the

author of the engravings we are about to describe, and of whom
Vasari gives us no further information, than that he was a gold«
smith. These meetings appear to have taken place about the year
1511 or 1512; but we have no information as to the age. of
Robetta at that time ; and, consequently, in conjecturing the epoch
to which his works of engraving appertain, we shall be best guided
by their style of design, which is evidently that of ^he latter part
of the fifteenth century ;* though there is also reason to believe that

' * Mr. Bartschy however, lorn. ziii. p» *^ Robetta floiwoit vers 15£0, et que par
399, says : <' on a lout sujet de croire que ^' consequent ses estampes^ appartiennent

3 N 2

robetta;

[chap, vi;

a few of his. engravings were executed in the early part of the
sixteenth century.

The works of Robetta bear evidence that he was no ordinary
goldsmith. He appears to have possessed a fertile imagination, and
to have composed with facility. In his small draped figures of
females or angels, he is frequently graceful ; but he was not equally
successful in his naked figures, which are often lamely drawn, and
sometimes ill proportioned. His engravings, which appear executed
with freedom, are finished with close hatchings carelessly thrown
in various directions; and, in the light parts of his figures, and
upon the ground, he sometimes introduces a few dots, or short
curved strokes, in the manner used by Schongaver, and other early
engravers of Germany or. the Low Countries. He sometimes
signs his prints with his name at length ; but more frequently he
iises the four letters r b T a • only. Many of his engravings are
without any mark.

Subjects of the Old Testament.

The Creation of Eve.

Adam is represented sleeping, seated on the ground, on the lefb
of the print, his back and his head resting against a cluster of twigs.
Eve appears coming out of his side ; her hands are joined together^
and she bends forwards towards the Creator, who is standing on a
bank of earth, on tae right. It is remarkable, that the Almighty

'' plutAt au commencement du aeiziime
*^ Slide qo'i la fin du quinziime.'' Huber,
however, * Manuel,' torn. iii. p. 50, is of a
verj different opinion. '^ En giniral,'' says
]ie, " les productions du burin de Robetta
*^ paroisaent de beaucoup ant6rieurs i celles
*' de Mantegna.*^ Now it is certain, if
VasarTs account is to be depeofled upon.

that the society above mentioned, was in being
at least as early as 1512, smce he expressly
mentions one of their entertainments which
took pkce in that year ; and, for aught we
know to the contrary, Robetta may then
have been a man of sixty, or upwards, as
there appears reason to believe his friend
Rusticbi himself was at that time.

CHAP, VI.] ROBETTA; 46t

is represented in this print as a very young man^ and not^ as
usual, with a long beard.

This piece, which has neither the name nor initials of the artist,
measures six inches and a half in height, by five inches and three
eighths in width. (Bartsch^s Catalogue ofRobetta, No. 1.)

Adam and Eve driven out of Paradise.

On the left is the angel, with a sword elevated in his right
hand. Adam, whose figure is seen in nearly a back-view, in the
middle of the print, directs his steps towards the right ; where Eve,
seen in a front view, appears standing on a bank, having her right
hand on her bosom, and, with her left, covering her nakedness. With-
out name or mark. This piece measures six inches and seven -eighths
in height, by five inches and three-eighths in width. {Bartsch, No. 2.)

Adam and Eve tmth the Infants Cain and Abel.

Adam appears, seated on the left, with the infant Cain beside
him ; Eve is seated on the right, with the young Abel on her knees,
whom she holds with her left hand. Her right hand rests on the
large stone on which she is sitting ; and fi*om under her left arm
rises a distaE This piece, which, like the foregoing, is without
name or mark, measures six inches and seven-eighths in height, by
five inches and a half in width. {Bartsch, No. 5.)

The Sacrifice of Cain and AbeL

In the middle of the print is an altar of a square proportion,
beautifully decorated with ornaments of sculpture, in the manner
of the antique. Upon it is Cain's offering of the first fruits of the
earth, burning. Cain himself appears standing on the right, dressed
in a short jacket, the folds of which he has hold of with his right
hand : he raises his left hand, and bends forward, looking towards

462 ROBETTA, [chap, ^i.

\ds brother Abel^ who is standings on the left, with his offering of
a small ram, or goat, which he bears in both hands. The figure of
Abel has considerable elegance, and is larger than that of Cain. The
back-ground, which rises high up in the print, represents a pleasing
landscape, with two or tliree scattered houses situated on the banks
of a lake. This piece, which, with the one following, was, I think,
no doubt intended to accompany the three preceding, is in my own
collection* It appears to have escaped the researches of Bartsch,
and has no mark. It measures six inches and five-eighths in height,
by five inches and a quarter in width*

The Death of AbeL

The figure of Abel, lying on his back^ on the ground, is seen in
a boldly fore-shortened point of view, his head being towards the
spectator, on the lefi; of the print. In the fore-ground, on the right,
stands Cain, who is seen in a back view. He rests his right-hand
on his club, and raises his lefi: as if in expostulation ; looking up, at
the same time» at the Almighty, whose half-figure, leaning forwards
firom a cloud, appears in the sky, on the left, over the figure of
Abel. Behind the figure of Abel is seen part of a rustic fence. This
piece, which is in the collection of Mr. Uoyd, has neither the
name nor the initials of Robetta. Bartsch appears to have been
unacquainted with it. It measures six inches and three-quarters in
height, by five inches and a quarter in width.

Adam and Eve tsnth the Infants Cain and Abel.

This composition is very different from that of the same subject
already described. Adam is seated on a bank, on the left of the
print, fatigued afi:er the labour of the day. At his feet is the infant
Cain, seated on the ground, and holding a bird. On the right is
Eve, standing with her distaff^ and the infant Abel by her side. The
back-ground represents a landscape. In the middle of the print.

CHAP. VI.] ROBETTA. 4«3

at bottom^ are the letters R b t a. This piece measures nine inches
and a quarter in height, by six inches and three-quarters in width.

Mr, Bartsch notices two different impressions of this engraving.
In the jinU the sky is left white. In the second impression, which
he says is retouched, there are several clouds, particularly on the
right*hand. (Bartsch, No. 3.)

A Rq^etition of the same Subject.

Adam, whose countenance is expressive of sadness, holds the hoe,
with which he has been tilling the ground, with his right hand, and
is seated on a bank by the side of Eve, who has the infant Abel on
her lap, and points towards Cain, who is sitting at her feet, in the
fore-ground, on the right-hand. The back-ground represents a
landscape. This piece, which is without mark, measures nine inches
and seven-eighths in height, by seven inches in width. {Bartsch, No. 4.)

Subjects of the New Testament, Saints, &c.

The Adoration of the Shepherds.

In the middle of the print, the Madonna is represented on her
knees, her hands joined together, and elevated, adoring the infant
Jesus, who is supported in the arms of an angel, who is kneeling on
the right. Two other angels are on their knees, one on either side the
Virgin, and a fourth angel, in a similar attitude of devotion, is seen
a little behind. Beyond this group, a little to the right, is a build-
ing fallen into ruins, through the door of which is perceived the ox
and the ass. Towards the near-ground, on the same side, is Joseph,
standing : he is seen in a back view, and turns his head towards a
shepherd, who, with his arms extended and elevated, prostrates
himself on the ground. This shepherd is attended by two dogs. In
the fore-ground^ on the left, are three other shepherds. I^e dis-

464 ROBETTA. [chap. vr.

tance on this side presents the yiew of a village. Mr. Bartscb
observes of this piece, that it does not hear the initials nor the name
of Robetta» but that it is undoubtedly by his hand. It measures
about ten inches and a half in height, by six inches and three
quarters in width. {Bartsch, No. 7.)

The Adoration of the Magi.

The Virgin is seated on a rocky bank, in the middle of the prints
and is seen in a front view. She has the Infant on- her lap, who
holds a small vase, one of the presents of the Magi. The stems of
two trees, one on each side the Madonna, rise to the top of the
print, and support a light canopy or roof of thatch, under which is
a group of three angels singing out of a scroll. Immediately behind
the Virgin, on the left, part of the figure of Joseph is seen, who
appears conversing with her, and on the right are the ox and
the ass.

The Magi, with their attendants, occupy the near-ground on
either side the print. Amongst these, an old man, whose cap, sur-
rounded by a crown, lies on the ground, appears kneeling on the
right ; and a second, a youth, kneels on the lefl, offering his present of
a small vase : on the ground beneath this figure is a turban. The
back-ground represents the view of a lake surrounded by a hilly coun-
try. On the right-hand, at bottom, under the cap of the old man
before mentioned, is the name of the artist, thus : robetta. This
piece, which is one of Robetta's most capital performances, measures
eleven inches and three-quarters in height, by ten inches and three-
quarters in width. {Bartsch, No. 6.)

The Baptism of Christ.

St. John the fiaptist, accompanied by two angels, who appear:
conversing together, occupies the right-hand of the print. In his.
left hand he holds a long staff surmounted by a cross, and, in his;

CHAP. VI.] ROBETTA. v465

rights a foowl, from which he pours water on the head of Christy
T^hOf with his hands joined, is standing in the river Jordan* On
thei left, twQ men are seen, undressed, the one standing, and the
pther seated, on the bank of the river. In the middle, at the top
of the print, the half figure of God the Father appears in a cloud,
surrounded by four angels in the act of adoration. The letters
RBTA, are engraved about the middle of the print, at bottom.
This piece measures eleven inches and three-quarters in height, by
eight inches and a half in width. {Bartsch, No. 8.)

Christ taking leave of his Mother.

Jesus, seen in pro^le, is standing towards the right, accompanied
by his disciples. He bends his head with an air of sadness, and
appears to listen to the Madonna, who, standing on the left-hand,
in company with a number of persons who appear to take an in-
terest in the scene, is addressing herself to him. Amongst other
figures, n^y be remarked that of a naked infant, who is seated in
the fore-ground, playing with a little dog. In the middle of the
hack-ground is a group of soldiers assembled around a well. The
distance, on the right-hand, represents a town situated on an emi-
nence. The letters r b T A are engraved in the middle of the print;
at bottom. This piece measures ten inches and three-eighths in
height, by eight inches and a half in width. {Bartsch, No. 9.)

The Resurrection.

Jesus Christ, holding a banner with his left band, and pointing
towards heaven (or perhaps giving the benediction) with the other,
(see note, p. 452) appears hovering in the air, over the sepulchre
which he has just vacated. Two soldiers, armed with spears, are
running off towards the left. Two others, on the right, one of whom
x^overs his.head with his round shield, are getting up firom the ground
that they also may make their escape. Upon the firont of the se-

3 o

4M ROBETTA. [chap. vi.

pulchre is a basso-relievo^ in which two angels are represented in th6
air^ bearing the handkerchief of S. Veronica. The letters r B T a, are
engraved in the middle of the print, at bottom. This piece measures
eleven inches and three-quarters in height, by eight inches and a
half in width. {Bartsch, No. 10.)

The Virgin and Child, with Angeb,

The Madonna is giving the breast to the infant Jesus. The little
St. John is seen further off. On either side are angels, in all five
in number, in attitudes expressive of adoration. This piece is
marked B o b t a, and measures five inches in width, by four inches
and three-quarters in height. {Bartsch, No. 1 1.)

The Virgin and Child.

The Madonna is seated, in a landscape, with the infant Jesus in
her lap, whom she supports with her left hand, whilst, with her
right, she presents him with a small bird. The letters R B t a are
engraved in the middle of the print, at bottom. It measures seven
inches and three-quarters in height, by six inches and three-eighths
in width. {Bartsch, No. 12.)

The Virgin and Child, with Angels.

The Virgin is seated, in the middle of the prifit, supporting the
infant Jesus with both hands, who, seated on her lap, bends
forward to embrace the little St. John the Baptist. On the left are
two angels, figures of the greatest elegance, standing, one of whom
raises his hands in devotion, and, at the same time, turns towards
his companion, as if inviting him to join him. On the right, behind
the Madonna, is another angel. This piece bears neither the name
nor the initials of Robetta, but it is undoubtedly by his hand, and
may, indeed, be considered one of his most beautifiil productions.

CHAP, vij ROBETTA; 4ft7

It measures nine inches and nine-eighths in height, by seven inches
and a quarter in width. (Bartsch, No. 13.)

St. Sebastian and St. Rock.

St. Seb^tian, pierced by arrows, and bound to the trunk of a tree,
stands on the left. On the right, stands St Rock, holding a staff
with his right hand, and, with his left, lifting up a part of his garment,
in order to expose the wound in his thigh. In the sky is an angel,
descending, with the palm and the crown of martyrdom, towards
St. Sebastian. This piece, which has no ^ mark, measures eight
inches and three-eighths in height, by five inches and a half in
width. (Bartsch, No. 14.)

Faith and Chanty.

The figure of Faith has a chalice in the left hand, and a cross in
the right. Charity is represented with a child on her lap, holding
a bird, and another child seated by her on the ground. The back-
ground represents a landscape. This piece is marked B b T a, and
measures seven inches and a half in height, by sdx inches and three-
quarters in width. \BaTtsch, No. 15.)

Subjects of Heathen Mythology, Fancy Subjects, &c*

Ceres.

The Goddess is represented with her brows encircled by a gar-
land of ears of corn, and a sort of thy rsis in her hand, surmounted
by a vase filled with fniits and grain. She carries an infant satyr,
and is followed by another. This piece is marked bbta, and
measures seven inches and an eighth in height, by five inches and
a half in width. {Bartsch, No. 16.)

3o2

468. ROBETTA. [chap. vi.

A Venus with Cupids.

Venus appears seated on a bank» holding, with her right hand, a
wand, to the end of which is affixed a vase, filled with fruits and
flowers. She is playing with two little Cupids : one of them is
upon her lap ; the other, who is standing by her, on the left, looks
up towards her, and presses her bosom with his left hand. A third
Cupid, holding a bird, is seated in the fore-ground, on the rights
and, in the back-ground of the same side, a fourth Cupid is seen,
seated on the ground, and amusing himself with a little dog, which
he holds by a ribbon tied round his neck. All these Cupids are
without wings. Towards the middle of the piece, rises a tree without
foliage, to which is suspended a tablet, whereon the traces of the
name of Robetta may be perceived, covered by dark hatchings. This
piece measures nine inches and three-quarters in height, by seven
inches in width. {Bartsch, No. 18.)

ApoUo and Marsyas. '

Apollo is. playing upon a pipe made of reeds, and is listened to
by Marsyas, near. whom, lying on the ground, is a sort of violin,
the bow of which he holds in his hand. Two men, who are seated;
and a female, who is standing, appear to be the judges of the per-
formance. At the feet of Marsyas is a child, holding in his arms a
small monkey. This piece is marked rbta, and measures ten
inches and an eighth in height, by seven inches and a quarter in
width. {Bartsch, No. 19.)

An unknown Subject.

On the right of this piece, a young man is represented, seated on
a stone, with his back against the* trunk of a' tree, to which he is
bound by cords, with his hands behind him. He appears to com-
plain of his captivity to a young woman who is standing before

CHAP. VI.] ROBETTA* 400

him with her hands crossed on her bosom. Another young female^
who is standing, in the middle of the print, plays on the harp, and,
on the left. Pan is represented, playing on a horn, which he holds
elevated. In the fore-ground of this side, is a second young man,
seated, in an easy attitude, on a piece of rock, at whose feet is a
small snake twisted round a stump. All these figures are naked.
The scene is a landscape. This piece bears the letters R b t a, en-
graved in the middle of the print, at bottom, and measures nine
inches and three-eighths in height, by six inches and three-quarters
in width. {Bartsch, No. 17.)

2%e Choice of Hercules.

Hercules is represented, in the flower of his youth, standing,
towards the left of the print, and resting with both hands on his club.
He listens attentively to what is said to him by two naked females,
intended to personify Virtue and Vice ; of whom the one, standing
in the middle of the piece, is seen in front, and the other, on the
right, in a back view. Behind, on the left, are the three Graces ;
and above, on either hand, are Cupids flying in the air. This en-
graving, according to Bartsch^ bears neither the name nor the initials
of Robetta. He considers it one of that artist's earliest produc-
tions. It measures ten inches and an eighth in height, by seven
inches and a half in vndth. (Bartsch^ No. 20.)

Hercules destroj/ing the Hydra.

Hercules, who is standing, near the middle of the print, is giving'
a blow to the Hydra vrith his club ; the monster being represented
near the mouth of a cavern, on the* left-hand. The back-ground
exhibits a mountainous landscape. About the middle of the piece,
at bottom, are the letters R B T a. This engraving measures mne
inches and an eighth in height, by seven inches and a quarter in
width. {Bartsch, No. 21.)

470 AOBETTA. [chap. vi.

Mr. Bartsch observes, that there are two different impressioiis of
this piece. In thejirst, the whole of the sky is left white, but, in the
second, some clouds are introduced, and also a falcon chasing a heron.

Hercides and Antaus.

Hercules is represented strangling Antseus; and, in the fore-
ground, on the left-hand, is an infant, who appears to be in con-
vulsions. Bartsch observes that this piece is ill drawn. He con-
siders it one of the artist's earliest works. It is without the name or
initials of Robetta, and measures ten inches in height, by seven
inches and a half in width. (Bartich, No. 22.)

Mutius SiUBwla,

Mutius Scsevola stands on the right, burning his hand in the fire,
which is upon an altar in the middle of the print Near him are
two soldiers, in attitudes testifying their astonishment at the action.
On the left stands Porsenna, holding a small standard, and accom-
panied by another soldier. This engraving is marked B B t a, and
measures eight inches and a quarter in height, by six inches and a
quarter in width. {Bartsch, No. 26.)

The Torments of Love.

In the middle of this piece, a young man is represented, seated
on a bank, with his back against a tree, and bound, by the left
arm, to one of its branches by Cupid, at the same time that he is
caressed by a woman, who is standing by him on the left. A man,
on the same side, accompanied by an infant, stands looking at
them. On the right, is another man, who is also accompanied by
an infant, and appears forcibly leading away a female, whose
countenance is full of sadness, and who raises her right arm in the
air, in an attitude expressive of her distress. All these figures are

CHAP, vij ROBETTA. 471

naked. Upon a tablet, suspended to the branch of a tree, near the
right-hand border of the prints is the name, thus : robeta. This
engraving measures eleven inches and three-quarters in height, by
eleven inches in width. (Bartsch, No. 25.)

The Old Woman and the four Lovers.

In the middle of this piece is an old woman, standing, and seen
in a front view. She looks down, towards the left, at a little child^
who is seated on the ground, hugging and playing with a bird.
Behind the infant is a young man, sitting on a piece of rock, cares-
sing his mistress, who is seated upon his lap. On the right are two
other lovers, who, standing, and holding each other round the
waist, are conversing together; the woman being seen in front, and
the man in a back view. All these figures are naked. On the left
border of the print is a group of trees ; nearer the centre, in the
middle ground, is a single tree; and, in the distance, is a hilly
landscape, terminating, cm the right, with the view of a small town.
The two bottom comers of this plate appear to have been cut away.
The print bears neither the name nor the initials of Robetta, but it
is undoubtedly his work. It measures ten inches and an eighth in
height, by seven inches and an eighth in width. {Bartsch, No. 24.)

It is worthy of remark, that the view of the town in the distance
of this piece, is copied, with little alteration, but in a reverse direc-
tion, from part of the back-ground of one of Albert Durer's en-
gravings on copper ; viz. that styled by Bartsch, (vol. vii. No. 73)
' L'efFetde la jalousie;' in which is represented a naked female,
recumbent in the lap of a satyr, defended from the attacks of another
woman, who is endeavouring to beat her with a stick, by the inter*
position of a naked man, armed with a small tree, which he has torn
up by the roots.*

* This piece of Dorer, as is the case with of engravbg, is, nnfortanatelyy without date,
a considerable proportion of his early works It was, perhaps, executed by him betwtoi

472

ROBETTA.

[chap, vl

Two Female Figures with a Lyre.

On the left of this piece, a female, who is dressed in the costume
of the antique, and holds a masque with her left hand, is repre-
sented leaning upon a sort of altar, and apparently listening with
great attention to the sound of a lyre which is placed upon the
altar, and played upon by another female, who is standing on the
right. The letters r b T a are engraved in the middle of the piece
^t bottom. It measures eight inches and a quarter in height, by
five inches and three-eighths in width. {BartscK No. 23.)

I must add, respecting this piece, that it appears to have been
engraved by Robetta, from a very elegant design, painted in
chiaro-scuro in fresco, by Filippino lippi, the son of Fra Filippo
Lippi,* in the ' Capella Strozzi,' in the church of S. Maria Novella,
at Florence. I have not, indeed, seen the print ; but a drawing,
made from the fresco itself, is now before me ; and it so exactly
agrees with the above description (except that, in the print, the
figures are reversed, having been engraved on the copper in the
same direction as the painting) as to leave in my mind no doubt as
to the fact It is not improbable that some of Robetta's other
works may also have been taken from the designs of lippi ; and I
a;m the more inclined to indulge such a conjecture, because amongst
the members of the ' Compagnia del Paiuolo' before-mentioned,
there was, as we have seen, one Ruberto di Filippo Lippi,f (doubt-*

the years 1504 and 1508, in die first of
which years he engraved his celebrated print
of Adam and Eve. Robetta's print, there-
fore, may probably have been executed as
late as 1509 or 1510. I must add, how-
ever, that, amongst the other engravings which
I have seen by Robetta, I have found no
similar instance of plagiarism from Albert
Durer ; whence I think it fair to conclude
that the chief part of his engravings were

executed before any of the prints of the Ger-.
man artist found their way to Florence.

* Filippino IJppi, after the death of his
father, which took place when he was yet a
boy, became the scholar of Botticelli. He
died, aged forty-five, in the year 1505.

f This Ruberto is spoken of, in Vasarils
life of Gio. Francesco Rustichi, as the
scholar and assistant of that artist. The pro-
bability b, that he was originally a scholar

CHAP. VI.]

EARLY FLORENTINE SCHOOL.

473

;less so called because he was a relative, or had been a scholar of
Lippi) who may readily be supposed to have possessed some of
Lippi's drawings, and occasionally to have obliged his friend Robetta
with the loan of them to engrave from.

That, besides the engravers already mentioned, there were many
other natives of Tuscany, who, during the last forty years of the
fifteenth century, and the early part of the sixteenth, practised the
newly discovered art, there can be Uttle doubt; and, indeed,
the fact may be collected, as was observed in a former page, (319,)
from the general tenour of Vasari's account.* He has neglected,
however, to record the names of these artists, and, unfortunately,
other obstacles join in opposing themselves to any present attempt
to render, our series of the ancient engravers of this school no com-
plete as we could wish. For although, in default of the evidence of
history, our inquiries might be aided by an extensive and frequent
referenc.6 to ancient Italian prints themselves, these are of so great

of lippi, but that^ preferring sGulpture to
paintingy be afterwards attached hinuelf to
Rustichi. He is not mentioned at die end
of the life of Filippino Lippi, amongst that
artist's scholars, which leads me to suspect
that he might have quitted him some time
before his death, in 1505 »

* I have sometimes thought that Vasari
meant to designate Andrea del Verrocchio as
an engraver, when he called him, at the be-
ginning of his life, ^* Orefice, Prospettivo,
Scultore, IntagUatore, Pittore, e Musico ;''
though I admit that the term is equivocal,
and may mean that, besides being a sculptor,
ia painter, and a goldsmith, he was also a
carver in wood. Stronger grounds of con-
jecture are furnished by Landino concerning
"^ Leone Battista Alberti, of whom, in one of
die introductory chapters to his commentary
upon Dante, (viz. that bearing the title '' Fio-

BBNTINI EXCBLLSKTl IN DOTTBINA^)

he thus speaks : '' Scrisse de sculptora : el
'' qual libro e intitolato statua. Ne sola*
*^ mente scrisse : ma di mano propria fece :
** et restano nelle mani mie commendatissime
** opere di penello, di scalpello, di btdino, et
^* di getto dallui fatte/' That even Lionardo
da Vinci might have occasionally practised en-
graving, I was some years ago led to think,
upon the occasion of turning over the inva*
luable volume of des^s, by that great artist,
in his Majesty's collection; in which I found,
pasted on the leaves amongst Lionardo's
studies of horses, two engravings, or, per^
haps, two pieces of the same engraving re-
presenting horses* heads, executed exactly
in the taste and manner of his drawings.
From what I remember of these fragments,
I suspect they are no other than the anony-
mous print mentioned by Bartsch, vol. xiii«
p. 331,, and ascribed by him to lo. Ant.
Brizianus, cut in two*

474 ANCIENT ENGRAYING BY [chap. vi.

rarity^ (more especially the engravings of the early Florentine school)
that the means of making the necessary comparisons are denied us«

I shall close this chapter with the description of an engravings
not less singular on account of the matter it represents, than re-
markable for the manner in which it is executed. I cannot, indeed,
take upon me to assert positively that it is of the Florentine school;
but I incline to the opinion, and have therefore thought it better
to insert it here, than to place it amongst the engravings of aiiy otfa»
school to which it appears to bear less affinity. Bartsch, who has
described it, (vol. xiii. pp. 357, 358.) gives it for title, ^^ La puis-
sance de TAmour.'' He acknowledges, however, that its real signi-
fication is enigmatical, and I, therefore, prefer styling it :

AN UNKNOWN ALLEGORICAL SUBJECT.

In the upper part of this print, in the middle, a graceful figure
of a young man is represented, standing on a pedestal, and seen in
fi*ont. In his right hand, he holds a long wand, surmounted by a
vase, from which issue flames of fire, and, in his lefl, which is ele*
vated, a crescent* His bosom is exposed, but the folds of a mantle,
which is thrown over his shoulders, cover the lower part of his body.
Below this pedestal, on the lefl, a young man is seen kneeling, resting
on his staff; and, on the right, an old man, the upper part of whose
body is naked, is represented, kneeling on a pedestal of Imger
dimensions than the former : he is turned towards the man with
the crescent, and holds, with both hands, a small idol, bearing a
vase on its head, which he appears to present to him. On a third
pedestal, resembling a tombstone, and situated under the pedestal
which supports the first described figure, another old man appear^

^ Burtoch remarked, within the curve of a man on horseback. I am unable to distin-
this crescent, an extremely minute figure of guish it in the impression before me.

CSHAP. VI-] AN UNKNOWN ARTIST- 474

lying asleiep on his hack; and, upon a fourth pedestal, a little
more to the right, is an elegant female figure, seated, caressing an
infant. This woman is accompanied by two other females, with
their in&nts standing on each side of her, one of whom bears her
child upon her shoulders ; and behind, on the right-hand border of
the print, the heads of two other female figures are seen, bearing
yases> and also the head of an old man. Upon the ground, under
the last described group, are two figures, seated; one of which, ac*
companied by a little dog, appears bathing its feet in a small stream
of water : nearer the middle of the fore*ground, is a young man,
leaning on his left arm, asleep, at whose feet are a vase, a little
child, and a dog ; and on the ground behind him are two other
men, the one seated, the other recumbent In the fore-ground^ on
the lefl, are two horses : at the feet of one of them an infant appears,
lying on the ground ; and on the back of the other is seated a naked
man, whose brows are ^icircled by a garland* Behind these figures
is an elevated platform, or pedestal, of wider extent than any of
those before described, and reaching fiom neair.the centre to the
lefi border of the print Upon this pedestal stands a young man,
naked, supporting, with his lefl hand, a large vase, which he
appears to offer to a naked female, who is standings more to the
right, by his side. Behind these two figures, on the same pedestal,
are a Uttle child, and a vase of larg» dimensions than the former;
and, on the lefiv are an old man with a child on his shoulders leaning
on his staff, a younger figure holding with both hands a small
vase, and three other figures, of which only the heads are seen.
The back-ground, on the lefl, represents part of a colonnade of the
Corinthian order ; and on the right are various portions of rich archi*
tecture, decorated with statues and bassi-relievi. In the middle of
the print, at bottom, is the mark of the artist, composed of the
letters P P, in the manner which will be presently shewn. This
engraving measures nine inches in width, by seven inches in
height.

3p 2

476 ANCIENT ENGRAVING BY (ctfAP. vi.

: *' This piece/* says Mr. Bartsch^ " is extremely remarkable for
^ the variety in the attitudes of the numerous figures it contains,
'^ as well as on account of the correctness, the precision of outline,
^' and the gracefulness that reigns throughout The shadows/' he
adds, '^ are for the most part produced by a very delicate sort of
** work executed with the dry point; a circumstance which gives to
*^ the print much of the appearance of a drawing outlined with a
*' pen, and highly finished with Indian ink."

It is proper, however, to obser^'e, that the last remark seems to
apply only to an impression of this interesting engraving, taken
before the plate was worked over with dots, executed with the
graver> by means, as Mr. Bartsch thinks, of the percussion of a
hammer. I shalU therefore, here give the distinctions which that
writer notices between the two impressions which came under his
cognizance.

" In the Jirst imipremon^'' says he, " the work is extremely de-
** licate, and the upper parts only of the letters P P appear; the
^' lower parts of those letters, as well as the thin stroke which unites
f' them, being effaced.^

"The second impressian,'* continues he, " was taken from the
•** plate after it had been retouched by strokes of the hammer, by
'* some goldsmith of little ability, who spoiled the engraving ; more
" especially as he omitted to finish the whole subject : for the
" figure of the young man holding the crescent, that of the old
'* man kneeUng who presents him with the idol, five figures in
f' the fore-ground on the right-hand, and the architecture in
" the back-ground on the same side, are lefl in the state to
" which that part of the plate was reduced when the artist under-
" took the task of retouching it; that is to say, all those figures
" are very feebly expressed, the plate having previously suffered

' * ^' EfEic^ :'' Bartsch must surely mean added in the second impression, not that th^
that the lower parts of the above letters were were ^aced from the first

CHAP, VI,] AN tJNKNOWN ARTIST. ' 477

'^ by too much printing. It is also to be' remarked that^ m this'
•* impression, the lower parts of the letters PP, and the thin
** stroke by which they are joined together, are clearly ex-
*' pressed/'*

I have not had an opportunity of seeing the two impressions of this
engraving, which Bartsch thus describes ; but I possess an impression
of it, differing materially from both of them ; having been taken
off after the artist, whom he supposes to have retouched the plate,
had completed his work, with the exception of one or two very
small parts, not worth noticing. I am, therefore, led to suspect
that Bartsch's opinion, that the plate, after it had been worn by
frequent printing, got into the hands of an ignorant goldsmith, by
whom it was retouched, may be without foundation ; and that, on
the contrary, the plate was worked up with dots by the original
artist himself: under which supposition, the^r^^ impression, noticed
by Bartsch, must be considered as a proof, taken by the artist
before he scraped off the burr left by the dry point, preparatory
to his beginning to finish the plate, according to his original inten-
tion, with the graver, by means of the strokes of a small hammer.
I am, indeed, the more inclined to this opinion, because, indepen-
dent of its having been customary with the early engravers to begin
their plates with the dry point, (of which numerous examples
might be readily referred to in the works of Marc Antonio and
others,) I do not discover, in the finishing of the print before me,
those marks of ignorance of which Mr. Bartsch speaks ; although
I can readily conceive that the proof impression described by him,
may possess a greater freedom of outline and delicacy of effect,
than the finished print, in consequence of the artist having been
better skilled in design than practised in the mjaiiagement of the
burin. The reader will be enabled to form some idea of the style
of this singular engraving, from a copy of part of the right-hand

* BartKh, voL xiii. pp. S59* SOOr S6l.

478 ANCIENT ENGRAVING BY [chap. vi.

The Abb6 Lanzi, " Storia Pittorica," vol. i. p. 83, of the edition
already referred to, mentions a print representing * Christ taken
down from the Cross,' marked, like the above, with the letters P P ;
initials which he considere as indicating Pietro Perugino ; but in the
last and augmented edition of his work, (Bassano, 1809,) he omits
the passage altogether ; doubtless because, upon 6jrther considera-

CHAP. VI.] AN UNKNOWN ARTIST. 478»

tion, he found there was no good ground for his original opinion; or
rather, perhaps we ought to say, for the opinion of a former pos-
sessor of the engraving in question, who, according, to Zani, " Ma-
teriali," p. 129, had written underneath it, with a pen, Petrus
Pertmnus. Zani, who saw this print in the collection of the Count
Antonio Remondini, at Bassano, informs us, that it presents a com-
position of fifteen principal figures, and that it is marked at hottom
with the letters P P, tied together, in the lower parts of the letters,
with a knot or flourish, in the manner indicated in the opposite plate.
It measures, he says, seven inches and six lines in height, (I am
uncertain whether or not he means old French inches,) by six inches
and two lines in width. Zani adds, that he is acquainted with two
or three other pieces marked in the same manner, one of which re-
presents, in a composition of numerous and very minute figures, the
hunting of a lion. This piece is described by Bartsch, vol. xiii. p. 356,
and, according to him, measures five inches and a half in width, by
four inches and five eighths in height. I will only add that, besides
the engravings above-mentioned, Bartsch also ascribes to the same
artist a small print of a bacchanalian subject, copied fi*om a larger
one by Andrea Mantegna. This piece I have seen : it is marked
n n, or^ perhaps, RR; but I find nothing in it to induce me to coa^
sider it by the same hand as the above.

THE END OF VOL. I.

J. MXrbbrt, Printer^
BUck-Hone-Conit, Fleet-Stnet, Londos.

3 2044 034 307 447

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Full text of "An inquiry into the origin and early history of engraving, upon copper and in wood, with an account of engravers and their works, from the invention of chalcographyby Maso Finiguerra, to the time of Marc' Antonio Raimondi"

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